


The Charlatan's Apprentice

by UnrealRomance



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - More Arks, F/M, MGIA, Modern Girl in Andromeda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2018-10-15 07:34:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 24,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10552510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnrealRomance/pseuds/UnrealRomance
Summary: Skylar wakes up in an alley on Kadara and she knows breaking down about how she got to Andromeda and why she's in a video game world isn't a great use of her time.So she gets right to work. For Reyes Vidal.Those of you who've read my modern girl inserts know that I tend to draw from the same well-- but Skylar feels like she's flavored slightly different from my other OC's...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If there are any tags you think should be on this story, let me know. I wanna make sure everything is accessible to everyone on the search function in the correct ways.

I panic when I wake up in unfamiliar places. When staying at friend's houses, sleeping over at my dad's for the first time in months- even just sleeping in a new room in our new house when we'd moved would freak me out until I got used to the new room.

At which point, we'd usually be moving again, restarting the cycle all over again.

But usually it only takes me a second to realize I'm at home. I'll blink and recognize my karaoke player or my dresser with the Yugioh stickers on it and I'll relax.

Not this time.

This time I wake up in a strange alleyway, and it… _smells_. Weird. Not even just a stink but…like the air itself is decaying. Which is a fucked up thing to even think, let alone smell.

So I shove myself up on my elbows- feeling hard-packed earth beneath them- to look around me, trying to control my breathing as I do so. It feels like my heart is squeezing in my chest.

Everything I see looks…like Star Wars? No fucking joke. Like super-advanced and super-regressed all at the same time. Like…

And then I see a Turian walk past the alley and I can finally put a name to the familiarity.

' _Kadara…_ '

This isn't a dream. I know that from the first moment I shift into an upright sitting position. My body aches like I've slept in an alley- my head hurts like I _fell_ and slept on the ground. Like I passed out or like I'm hung over, maybe?

I try to stand up and the whole world kind of swims around me. Stumbling against an alley wall, I stay upright- but my legs shiver for a good long minute.

And then I hear someone talking, and it seems close by so I glance up and see…an Angaran female, talking to me. But I can't understand a word she's saying. At least _that_ much makes sense.

"I don't…I don't understand you, I don't have an omni-tool." And I have a lightbulb moment. "I don't even know how I got here. Do you understand _me_ at least?"

She slowly nods her head and then gestures out of the alley and reaches out a hand toward me.

"How do I know you're not Roekarr?" I ask warily.

Her enigmatic smile says, 'you don't' as she shakes her head.

"Alright, but I'm a specialist in hand-to-hand combat…sorta. I might be weak as a newborn right now, but I should be able to fend off attacks." I tell her as I follow her out of the alley. "I'm trusting you not to like, try and murder me."

She makes a very cute noise that I think is supposed to be choked-off laughter.

"Sure, make fun of the human." I mutter as we walk together across the alley to the entrance of… "Oh…this is…" I glance aside at her as we enter and cough at her inquisitive expression. "Is this…a strip club?" Because it's the only cover-up I can think of.

She laughs at me again as we enter, nodding. She laughs harder when I tell her I'm so not giving her a dance.

"Seriously, I have zero talent for stripping." I tell her over her shoulder-shaking guffaws. Well. That's not  _totally_...true. I mean, I've never...professionally...

So we walk into Tartarus. That bar in the Slums, where Reyes Vidal hangs out. It's a little dirty and smells like sex and booze and other things- though those other things are overpowered by a weirdly clean disenfectant smell. So the bartender/owner guy must put a lot of effort in, anyway.

And I know I'm probably not here by coincidence. Being led into his hangout by a female Angaran…

Crap, she's not that one Angaran he introduces you to, is she? Keema Dohgrun or whatever her name is? No. She doesn't…look like her, right? Damn it- it's too soon after launch! I can't remember what she looks like!

It doesn't matter, cause she wouldn't be taking an unknown human straight to Reyes, right? I mean it's not like-SHIT.

He's the fucking Charlatan. Which makes him in charge- and he's only _secretly_ in charge.

She leads me up the steps to that room he was apparently renting in-game and I just groan SO MUCH internally as they creak under our feet. I really don't wanna do this. Of course she'd bring me here. Unknown human in a place where everyone should know each other- doesn't have an omni-tool and seems kinda defenseless- even me telling her that I have skills that could be utilized!

I hate everything.

I mean, it's not like this isn't a fangirl's dream and all- meeting your favorite character and seeing aliens and…wow. I just took a good long look at the Angaran woman and there's a whole uncanny-valley sensation of looking into her eyes and seeing human-but-not-human emotion there. Wait, what was I thinking about? Oh, right! It's not like this isn't a dream come true.

But I know a coupla things about Reyes Vidal. One of them being: He's a shady bastard and does what's necessary.

If what's necessary is killing me, he'll do it. Shit, shit, shit.

Thing two being: He's charismatic and gorgeous and I don't do well talking to those kinds of people without some serious irritation bolstering me. So if I'm talking to him I'll have to be half-pissed off at him all the time.

So do I just let myself get irritated by his every move or do I actually try to talk to him first?

The room we walk into after she uses her omni-tool on the door- so cool! - is _really_ different from how it looks in-game.

Firstly, there's actually a bed- though it's small and has only a thin blanket and pillow. It's smushed up against the far left wall, with a small table next to it that houses a bottle of pills and a bottle of water. For hangovers?

"Nevva." And there he is. Reyes Vidal, sitting at a desk. "What have you brought me?"

"Not a 'what', that's kinda insulting." I respond, pouting. Okay, guess I'm going with irritation.

He chuckles and pushes himself away from the desk. "I suppose, if you're taking it too seriously."

I laugh sarcastically. "Ha, Ha."

The Angaran- Nevva, speaks then. I still can't understand her, so I just focus on Reyes, since I kinda know what she'll tell him. 'Found her in an alley, no omni-tool, says she can fight but it's doubtful-' I mean I don't have much muscle-tone.

My particular style of hand-to-hand combat isn't really…a musclebound one. I mean, none of them really are, unless you work at it extra hard…and I've never taken it beyond training. I've never done competitions…and I'm pretty sure I'd die if I had to go up against someone with the same skill level as me.

"Ahhh…" He says, putting up a finger and turning around to go back to the desk. "Just a moment, I have a few extras." I have no idea what he's talking about until he bends down, grabs something out of a drawer- walks back over and then holds a thin metal panel out to me. "These aren't easily replaced, but I can spare you one."

"For a price, right?" I ask when I realize it's an omni-tool. And I'm gonna need it if I wanna survive. "I don't think I'd be of much use to you."

"You haven't even asked what my price would be." He says, smiling charmingly. "This place can get rowdy." God, that accent- Focus! "If you have any proficiency for weaponless combat you may make a good bouncer. And Nevva tells me: you say you do."

"Yeah I'll be great. Till somebody pulls a knife," I mutter as I reach out and take the omni-tool.

A flash of movement and I don't even realize I'm moving until I've got his wrist in my grip and a switch-blade looking knife is clattering to the floor.

His other hand, now free of the omni-tool is up in a surrendering motion. "Just proving a point. Knives won't be a problem for you, I'm certain."

"And guns?" I ask, lifting an unimpressed brow as I release him and take a step back.

"Well." He smiles, showing off pearly white teeth. "There are other bouncers. But we could always use more. And you'll have one of your own, of course." He bends down to scoop up the knife but when he stands, it's just gone. I can't even see the place where he _might have_ put it. His sleeve isn't bulging, his belt has no secret-looking compartments…

Ah, shit. I'm gonna have to practice somewhere no one can see me so no one knows how bad I am with a gun. It'll probably take me a while to even figure out the safety!

Is there even a safety? Shit.

"So. May I know your name?" He reaches out and swipes the omni-tool from me, also gesturing for me to give him my left wrist.

I don't want him touching me too much but I have no idea how to put that omni-tool on or in or…whatever. So I suck it up and hold out my wrist, barely holding in a pathetic little gasp of air when his hand closes around my wrist.

' _Can he feel my pulse?_ ' I can feel my heart hammering my ribs right now, so I fuckin' hope not.

"It's Skylar," I can't hold in the sudden gasp when the Omni-tool touches my skin. He places the metal thing on top of my arm, laying it on there without ceremony. It's cold, and-

A bunch of little needles, it feels like- just dug into my skin. "Easy, easy." He murmurs and strokes my wrist with his fingertips as the needles recede. "Don't know why you would never have needed an omni-tool injected before, but I suppose there were remote colonies with only humans on them…a farm, perhaps?" He asks, looking into my eyes as he removes the slim panel of metal.

There's no blood on my skin. No open wounds. Though…there are a couple of little white dots I can see clearly. Like scar tissue already closed over the wounds. Medi-gel or something like that on the needles? Damn. So that wasn't the omni-tool, it was the injector for one. What did he inject me with?

"Uh…yeah." I respond unsurely. "I was in rural country on Earth before I came to Andromeda…" Very true.

"Why didn't they give you an omni-tool when you got on the Nexus?" He asks, releasing my arm.

"They were going to when they woke me up, but…something went wrong?" I say and ask at the same time. "I'm not sure why I'm here."

"Is Tann jettisoning people to conserve energy?" Nevva speaks and startles the hell out of me.

I'd forgotten she was there.

"I wouldn't put it past Spender, but Tann? I don't think he'd do something so horrible." Reyes sighs. "I could be wrong. But it's likely you won't be accepted back up on the Nexus regardless."

"Seemed uptight, but it was clean and they had food." I say, sighing. "Now I'm gonna have to fight tooth and nail just to survive, aren't I?"

Reyes smirks just a little, hazel eyes sparkling with mirth. "Welcome to Kadara."


	2. Chapter 2

My job isn't too hard. I'm the 'visible muscle' that walks around looking disapproving of anyone acting up and if shit's going down, I call the other bouncers over.

Injecting the implant for comms was less fun than the omni-tool. I don't even wanna think about it.

"Hey gorgeous…" A Human guy slurs and attempts to sling his arm over my shoulders.

I dodge and he goes stumbling across the floor a bit.

Instead of taking the hint, he laughs and rights himself, smiling at me. "Want me to buy you a drink, baby?"

"I'm a bouncer," I respond flatly.

Even if I know I could probably defend myself against a drunk asshole like this…I still get that prickle. That feeling of fear skittering down my spine, like this will be the time the guy harassing me will refuse to take no for an answer and just keep coming at me until-

"Well the cus'mer's al'ays right, right?" He asks, grinning. Great. I've told him who my boss is and that he can possibly threaten to get me fired if I'm not receptive to him.

"I don't partake on the clock." I respond and turn around, intending to walk away.

"Hey wait-" He reaches out and grabs my arm. And then his hand is gone even before I whip around.

"Come on, man. You're out." One of the other bouncers spotted me, I guess. A Turian with an impressively long fringe. Like, Saren-long. "Don't bother the staff." He's dark-plated with red swishes painted on his face in really attractive places. I have a thing for Turians, always have since Nihlus was first introduced.

"I was jus' bein' friendly!" He protests as the Turian marches him out.

I take a deep breath and sigh, walking back toward the staff room in the back. I'll just…get a water, splash some on my face in the bathroom, maybe…no, that's a waste. Can't waste water.

"You alright?" One of the Salarian patrons catches the edge of my elbow as I walk by. "You need some food? You look pale. I think you should eat." While I've been here, I've learned that Salarians are usually mom-friend busybodies. Not always, but they lean more toward that kind of thing than the other species I've met in the bar.

"Probably," I mutter and breathe a sigh of relief when he releases me and I'm past him.

He had a good point, though. I haven't eaten all day. I've been saving up my credits as much as I can. Skipping meals doesn't really hurt me much so long as I get one every day and don't run into trouble. Since I'm not really running into combat situations, I don't need more just to stand around and look intimidating.

And boy am I good at looking intimidating. But it's beginning to wear on me. A lot. Just that much stress shouldn't have done this to me. This shakiness…that could be the anxiety- but I'm so _tired_ all of a sudden.

So I walk into the back room and use my omni-tool to activate the vending machine and grab a protein bar when it drops into the slot.

Took me a couple tries to even activate the damn thing. I had to keep fiddling around with it to even figure out what all the little buttons were for and how to use them. It didn't really take super long, it has a pretty intuitive interface.

I peel the plastic away from the granola and take a big chomp of it, moving on to the water dispenser and paying for a bottle of that, next.

Why Reyes thinks this was a good first job for me, I'll never know. Just took one look at me and thought 'bouncer'? Not 'semi-competent courier' or 'possible dancer' even? I mean sure, that last one would've pissed me off but it would've made more sense than this for me. I'm…passably good at dancing.

I didn't take any stripper dance classes though, I mean…I may have…taught myself a few of the moves for fun…

"You look lost in thought," Reyes's warm voice comes out of nowhere.

I go absolutely still in surprise and swallow my now-chewed bite of granola before turning to address him. "No, sir. Just eating."

He makes a discontented noise. "You keep calling me 'sir'. I am not your boss or anything. You remember my name?"

"Reyes Vidal," I deadpan. "You're…more important than you let on. Smuggler, rich enough to rent out the break room upstairs…" I end with a bit more nervously.

"Well, I suppose that's true." He responds, tilting his head and smiling that charming smile at me. "I do have my hand in half a dozen things. As a matter of fact, I came to ask you if you wouldn't mind doing a job for me?"

"You don't know me." I blurt, blinking a little in confusion. "We met four days ago and I haven't spoken to you since." I've seen him around, wining and dining a bunch of different people. Men and women of various species. More wining than dining.

"True. But I believe it's time we see what you are capable of. What other way to do that is there besides sending you out and seeing what you can do?" He dips his head a little and gives me a bashful-under-the-lashes look. "If you refuse, that's fine, but-"

"Don't do that." I say with my brow jumping a little. "Don't do the flirty-face, look-how-pretty-I-am, just-do-what-I-want thing."

He sighs and stands back to his full height, "can't blame a man for trying. And-" He pauses and a grin creeps over his face. "So you think I'm pretty?"

I inhale sharply and for a long moment, then I turn to the side and step around him. "Nope. Not doing this with you."

"Alright, alright- my apologies." He turns around and puts his hands up in surrender. He doesn't try grabbing me which gets him a few brownie points. I think I'll straight-up rack the next person who does that. "No more flirting unless you start first, I promise." He says with that smirk that says he's assuming I'll be starting pretty soon.

It isn't hard to be irritated by Reyes when I'm trying. "I don't think you have it in you, but sure. What do you want?"

"A few of my people went missing in Kadara Port. They were transporting goods for me." He's suddenly very business-like as he speaks, dropping his hands. "I want to know if they are still alive, where the cargo is…anything you can find for me."

"And if I run into trouble?" I ask, quirking a brow.

He hums, "nothing you do can be linked back to me."

"So I'd be on my own," I deadpan. "Great. Where am I going, exactly?" If I wanna survive, I need to be useful. And Reyes will probably pay at least passably-well. I'd like to start eating more than one protein bar a day.

His smile is bright in response to my irritation and I'm sure contrasts weirdly with my grim expression, "I will send the navpoints to your Omni-tool. Many thanks."

' _The pretty smiles aren't even_ _ **partially**_ _why you're doing this?_ ' I've never wanted to tell myself to shut up so bad before in my life.


	3. Chapter 3

It didn't take much to find out where they were being held. The 'cargo' was harder to find but not impossible. Their security systems and guard rotations are a joke.

Funny enough the game got quite a few things wrong. Like for instance that there were no Quarians, Hanar, Drell or any of the other species that weren't around. I know they did that so they could introduce the Angara and whoever else they might want to in the future without overloading everything with Aliens…but. Well.

I found a Quarian Collective member before leaving who gave me a good price on hacking software. I spent all my saved credits on it, but that's basically the kind of thing I was saving up _for_.

Then I went around and asked about the smugglers that went missing. But I played the part of jilted girlfriend who's boyfriend missed their date. The girls around were happy to tell me 'oh it's not his fault. He got apprehended under suspicion of working for the Charlatan! Sloane is so paranoid, but don't worry- if he's not actually working for him, I'm sure he'll be fine!' Women here are a lot more…solidarity-minded than my own universe, it seems.

My own mother couldn't go a day without reminding me how 'chubby' I was when I'd gained weight but here all I get is- 'love your coat! Your hair is so pretty! Hey sweetie, wanna kiss?' I didn't even know how to respond to that last one. It seemed less sexy and more hey-want-a-pick-me-up?

So I just walked on.

I didn't play it like a game, the whole mission- or whatever you wanna call it. But I got as close as I could to doing so. It was all a matter of figuring out the patterns. The guard-rotations, the time of day there'd be the least of them.

It took me two days in all to do it, cause I didn't want to push it and have Reyes sending someone else after _me_.

First I used those vents I know are around the side of Sloane's building and got down into the cells. It was easy enough, even if I had to wait for the hacking program for like, ten whole minutes. Meanwhile I paced and stomped and huffed so if anyone saw me they'd see 'pissed off woman' and want to stay the hell away. It usually works. Unless someone is incredibly naive and well-meaning and thinks they can help. That always screws up my rhythm.

So I got down there and found the two Human guys who were supposed to be transporting the goods. Moore and Devry.

It took a lot longer to figure out how to get them out- and I ended up having to knock out the guard that came in to give them lunch with a strangle-hold. He'd probably not remember anything about the attack due to the loss of oxygen but I was behind him and wearing a hood anyway, so…

Then I downloaded all the information off his omni-tool, figuring it could be useful, opened their cells and took them out of the vents with me.

I snuck them both over the side of the railing there and then went looking for the Cargo. I waited for them to meet up with me at the back area of Sloane's building before really searching on my own and directed them to stand lookout.

They were jumpy and didn't want to do it, they wanted to go back to the slums. I mentioned that they'd probably not get paid unless they delivered the Cargo. They were less whiny but I could tell they still didn't wanna.

We got the Cargo, which was a little box of something. I asked if it was incendiary to be sure we weren't carrying around a bomb and told them to check and make sure it was what they thought it was in there- but didn't look while they did so. I know better than that.

After that, it was just a matter of helping them hide their faces and skirt around the market and port on our way to the slums.

"You left the guard alive?" Reyes's brows are lifting to his hairline.

"I wanted it to look like a worried girlfriend had broken him out and run off with him." I take off the wig I was wearing and use a washrag with make-up remover on it to start cleaning my face of the ugly make-up I'd put on it. "A sweet girl who'd never fought anybody before but knew enough to defend herself. Failing to kill him just painted the persona as a lot sweeter than she even seemed at first."

We're standing in the back room of the club and he walked in with a dubious glance in my direction. I had to actually roll my eyes and ask him if he wanted a picture before he realized it was really _me_. I'm _damn_ good.

I used to love watching those tutorials for make-up and how to make eyeliner super sharp and stuff. I used to wear wigs a lot, too. I loved looking like someone completely different- I felt like a master of disguise. I was such a dork.

"Some of my people around Kadara Port seem to think that is what happened, yes." He chuckles. "Sloane is even convinced they took the Cargo so they could sell it and run off together somewhere. She apparently thinks they're headed for the Badlands."

"Good." I wipe away the last of the make-up and marvel at the fact that their own version of make-up remover is super efficient. "So do I get paid now?"

He laughs, "yes. You get paid now." He taps his omni-tool and mine automatically activates, asking for permission to make a money transfer. I hit 'yes' and suddenly I've got…a lot more credits than we agreed on. "Why so much?"

He laughs again, louder this time. "Are you serious? I send you to get information, you break out my men _and_ secure the Cargo!"

"Well it wasn't that hard," I respond with confusion.

"It was incredibly dangerous and more difficult than you know." He says, crossing his arms and grinning at me. "I believe we have found your talent!"

"What?" I frown.

"Infiltration!" He says, with the biggest smile yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please nobody tell me my fanfic is unrealistic. I realize that. It's a fanfiction. It's not supposed to be. I endeavor to correctly represent people but if the romance is a little too perfect or the OC is a little too perfect and things aren't realistic-- that's by design.
> 
> I want a fluffy, feel-good story. Just telling you that, right up front. There'll be brief moments of angst and anger and everything-- but you can go into this knowing that everything will work out in the end and the only people who die are people you barely know.


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't know about this, Reyes." I'm sitting with him in a taxi/transport that's headed into the Badlands and I just _know_ this isn't a good fit for me either.

"You need practice shooting moving targets with that rifle." He says. "There are Roekarr in the area, they will make perfect adversaries."

"I don't wanna kill the Roekarr, though." I respond. "They're mostly brainwashed kids, aren't they?"

He glances sideways at me and then looks away, sighing. "A good number of them, yes. But they have been harassing my people and you really do need practice if you are going to survive in this galaxy."

"I could always subdue them somehow," I say. "It'd make our relations with the Angara less…tense, if I did that."

He gives me another look, though this one is more considering than the last. "I do not even know how to begin to imagine that, but somehow I believe you'd find some way." Very slow and methodical, his speech is at that moment.

So I push.

"So let me. Then we can go to that Remnant site I've heard about and I can shoot robots if you really want me to learn long range." That's still a thing, here. I even heard that the Remnant site's robots don't go beyond a certain distance from the pillars so we'd just have to set up some distance away to be safe.

' _Does that make sense? Is there some wireless power source they can't get too far away from_?'

He hums and glances away, fingertips tapping on his knees. "So long as we can end their harassment of my people, I don't care how. But if things go sideways, you give the signal and we light up the whole place. No taking chances." He's staring me down now, stern and unwavering.

It's a surprisingly good look on him.

"I'm not gonna die just to be morally superior." I respond with some sourness. "I just want to see if I _can_. If I can't…fine. Have to try, at least."

He hums in the back of his throat, "most people are fine to leave it at 'shoot them' and 'get paid'. How do you intend to infiltrate a Roekarr facility as a human?"

"I don't, really." I respond, fighting a smirk.

His eyes narrow at me, "you know something. Are you going to tell me?"

"After I amaze and astound you or look like a total dumbass-either way-when it's over, I'll tell you." I say, really smirking now.

"Hm. I am regretting that promise not to flirt with you," he says, basically pouting. "I'm sure I could get it out of you if I tried."

"Going for the obvious is boring," I huff. "If you can't get answers out of me without flirting, that's just…lazy." I might be smiling by the end of it, amused- holding back a little bit of laughter.

"Hmmm…" He hums in the back of his throat again. Looking at the opposite wall of the transport, he sighs. "I suppose you are right. I am a bit rusty with other methods of coercion."

"You aren't testin' 'em on me, pretty boy." I tell him. "I don't respond well to manipulation. If I think you're even close to doing that, I'll do the opposite of what you want. And if I think it's a double-mind-fuck, I'll just do an entirely different thing to fuck with your plans."

"Not very wise," he shakes his head at me, smirking. "To tell your boss you plan to disobey orders."

"So long as they're upfront orders and not a manipulation, he has nothing to worry about." I say lightly. "And it's not really a conscious decision so much as an instinctive rebellious urge."

"Aha." He laughs in satisfaction. "I knew you were a rebel when I first laid eyes on you."

"Good for you," I quip.

… … … … …

It didn't take long to single her out. The one Angara who looks the most miserable being a Roekarr.

"I don't understand." I have her handcuffed in the cave where we've been hiding out. In one of the outer chambers, so she won't know exactly where we're based inside. "Why aren't I dead? I will not tell you anything, none of us ever do!" I put her in a comfortable chair and handcuffed her to the back of it. Slightly uncomfortable pose with her shoulders drawn back, but I'm hoping it's not too bad.

"I don't want you to tell me anything," I respond. "I want to talk, because I know why you're out here."

She scoffs, "to run off aliens like you! Taking our resources-"

"It's one group of aliens, the Outcasts, and no I'm not with them." I respond. "Most of us just wanna survive, like you."

"You took Kadara!" She responds, huffing. "Kadara is _ours_."

"Indeed it is, but this isn't how you convince Humans to give something back." I respond. "We're more likely to respond to pleas and beaurocracy and social pressure than attacks. We won't just retreat, we'll dig in and fight to the last man." Most of the time. That whole 'rebellious' streak we have goin' on…well. Turians and Salarians and the other species have it- but not as much as we as a whole species apparently do.

Their rebels are isolated cases and groups.

"Then we will kill you all." She says, fierce and brow-bent.

"Yeah and you'll kill half of yourselves, possibly more, doing it." I tell her, sighing.

There's a flicker in her expression that tells me I was right. The whole situation with Lathoul and Tevint occurred specifically because of how Angaran family units work. I wasn't sure.

"We live and die for a purpose." She says. With less conviction than before.

"We or they?" I ask, tilting my head. "I know you don't really want to be here. Did you come with brothers? Sisters? Both?"

She bristles at the questions. "I will tell you nothing."

"I told you, I don't need you to." I respond. "I already know the answer. Two sisters and a cousin."

Her body goes rigid and her eyes open wide.

"Here's how I know." I tap my omni-tool and hold it out as the call is reconnected.

" _Varra? Varra, baby is that you?_ " An Angaran female's voice. Varra's true mother, Venna. They seem to have a theme in their family. Her sisters are named Villa and Vekka. And her cousin is named Evva. So…just her immediate family, then.

Varra's eyes tear up as she stares at my omni-tool. "Mother?"

" _Varra!_ " She speaks several words that my translator doesn't understand. Terms of endearment, I think. " _It is time for you to come home, you and your sisters._ "

She crumbles a little at her mother's voice, tears appearing in her eyes. "I can't, Mother. They will not go, and I will not leave them."

"I can help you get them home." I say before her mother can interject. "All you'd have to do is get them out of the compound, alone. We hit them with Tranqs and move them away- take them to a transport."

"This is a trick!" She's breathing heavily with rage.

"It isn't." Nevva came with us, as she's apparently an ex-Roekarr who didn't like the way Akksul operates. Reyes didn't tell me that until we were already here and I asked if we had anybody who knew any ex-Roekarr and then I _glared_ so hard at him for not telling me earlier.

It makes things so much easier, this way.

Nevva walks into the small alcove and sighs. "I joined the Roekarr a few months ago, and I thought…well, it doesn't matter." She shakes her head. "I wanted to do what was right for my people. To save them. But in the end, you will have to fight your family, because the Roekarr and the Resistance may both hate the Kett- but the Resistance will take whatever allies and agents it thinks necessary. Which will make us a target of the Roekarr. And then you will be fighting your mothers, your father and your other siblings."

Varra's eyes are clouded with tears as she stares up at Nevva. "I know you. You…you are a traitor."

"She left the Roekarr to protect her family from herself." I interject. "The Roekarr would make you kill yours if necessary."

Her lips wobble and I know we're on the verge of _something_.

Varra looks to Nevva with heavily blinking eyes, "how do you know they won't just kill them? That this isn't just a- a-"

" _Varra, sweet._ " Her mother speaks over my Omni-tool's intercom. " _Evfra has agents and allies in many places. Trust Nevva, if you can trust no one else._ "


	5. Chapter 5

We ended up having to kill half of the compound of Roekarr.

We used Varra to get her siblings and cousin out, had her talk a few others who were doubting into coming out too to talk about it. So we halved their numbers and it was a lot easier to take out the rest. Even after I stepped right up to their hideout and asked outright for them to surrender so we could take them home to their mothers.

But all that was left were the die-hards. So they…died.

"You seem upset." Nevva sits next to me on an outcropping of rock. "You are injured as well, shall I tend you?"

"I've got 'em covered, it's not a big deal." I gesture uselessly to the grazes on my shoulder and thigh. "I just wish I could've saved them all."

"You made this fight much easier on the Collective and brought home eight children." She responds, grasping my shoulder. "If you hadn't pushed Reyes to try, it would have been more difficult. More of the Collective would be dead and _all_ of the Roekarr."

"Is there something more I could've done, though?" I ask, peering down at my bloody gloves. "Something I could've said, someone I could've…"

"You are flagellating, then." Reyes walks over to sigh at me. "I expected as much. You are too soft for Kadara, little Chameleon."

" _Soft_?" I ask, squinting up at him. "I am _not_ soft."

"No, she is kind." Nevva says, smiling when I glance at her. "Kindness is a choice, borne of the intimate knowledge of pain. Do not underestimate her, Reyes."

"I suppose I have twice now and she has exceeded expectations both times." He mutters, turning and walking off.

I watch the way his hips swing for like, a second- and when I look away, not even that quickly or blushing or anything- I see Nevva watching me with her brow bent upward.

"What?" I ask, maybe a little defensively.

"Oh. Nothing." She says, smiling warmly. Her galaxy-blue eyes sparkling. "I was wondering if you wished to come get a drink with the rest of us, but perhaps you'd prefer to go back to Tartarus with Reyes?"

That pauses me. "You guys don't drink at Tartarus?"

"Oh, no." She shakes her head. "There are other clubs where we buy our drinks. Then we come back here and drink them. Together. After missions."

"That…sounds…incredibly convoluted and weird." I respond, quirking a brow.

She laughs, "Reyes's idea. After our missions, it would be all too easy to track the purchases of our people when they go for celebratory drinks or medical supplies. So we buy from Tartarus before jobs, but not after. Right after a job, for a few days after- we spread out and buy drinks from other places as well as medical supplies. And food. That way they can't trace our members or ambush us because they know where we go."

"Wow." I reply, furrowing my brows and pursing my lips. "I knew that guy was some kinda mad genius but, that's…paranoia squared multiplied by-"

"It isn't paranoia if they are _really_ out to get you." He says as he walks past, going the other direction with equipment in his hands. "If you two are well and done discussing everything, will you be so kind as to help us pack up?"

… … … …

"Efvra wants you to watch me." I say, deadpan. I've been doing deadpan a _lot_ lately.

Reyes snickers at the look on my face, "more specifically he told me to put people _on_ you- but I decided this was a far better idea."

"Hiring me as your assistant was a better idea than just having me followed?" I ask, incredulous.

"You've shown yourself to be a versatile agent." He responds seriously. "Teaching you what I know and asking for your perspective- working from your…unique way of solving problems…the Collective can only benefit!"

"All I did was recover some agents and Cargo and then guilt trip you into not killing a bunch of Roekarr!" I can't even believe this.

"Yes, and both scenarios worked out in my favor- and I expected much less from you than you ended up delivering." He's grinning again, I hate it when he _does_ that.

' _Liar._ ' Shut up, I can pretend.

"You told me to bring you what I could when you sent me on the first job." I remind him. "So I did what I could. Nothing more or less. This time…it only worked out this way because you indulged me. I'm still not sure _why_ you did."

"I wanted to see if you could do it," He responds. "What you did before- I wasn't expecting. And so I thought to myself…perhaps she will surprise me again. And you did!" He grins, wide and bright. "So now I will take you under my wing and teach you everything I know- endear you to Evfra as much as possible and maybe someday when a stray shot takes me out…maybe you'll be the one to take my place."

"I don't like that…" I say slowly, imagining a bullet hitting him in the head or the chest or the stomach- possibly watching him die. I shiver a little. "I don't like the whole idea of succession through death."

"Think of it as more- I will someday be fired and will need a replacement." He's smiling a little softer now, almost unsure. "You would be my Apprentice, and you are unlikely to find a better position than that out here in Kadara. I assure you."

"I didn't say 'no', I just said I didn't like it." Rolling my eyes and huffing, I finish my thought. "Which is no different from everyone else who has a job, really."

His answering smile is brilliant, "wonderful. Now. We have much to do today to get you ready for this job. First, you need actual armor." He gestures at my bargain-bin armor and grimaces. "Something more stylish and less…flimsy."

"It was all I could afford," I defend my patchwork leather and pout.

"Yes well, _I_ will be bankrolling your armor budget from now on and outfitting you." He shakes his head. "You can choose the style, of course- but the materials and in what quantity they are used will be mine to determine."


	6. Chapter 6

He's mainly flirting with one guy tonight. Which is good. As he says in the game, his taste in men is a lot better than his taste in women. They're at least somewhat upstanding or moral in some small way. If he stays with the guy he's hitting on now and doesn't detour toward a woman that just radiates 'trouble' I won't have to intervene.

I wouldn't normally intervene at all, but he's almost been shivved twice and shot once by women he tried to pick up in bars- and that's just since _I_ got here. Nevva didn't seem surprised when I complained to her about it.

Reyes has a button. Women push that button more often than men do. That whole, 'hey, you seem like a nice guy' button. Cause apparently no matter what universe it is, if you think a guy is cute, you're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Men in this universe are less likely to push that button because they're better at hiding what they think. Women put their emotions and thoughts right out on their face, on their sleeve- because that's just how we function. Good to know another universe in which it's hundreds of years after my own time, that's still true.

Not.

I mean, it's not like it's as bad as my own universe. It's just enough to notice- and that's shocking and kind of awesome in its own way…but I would've thought it'd be completely gone by now. The whole gender-binary-role thing we have in our society.

 _Especially_ after being exposed to aliens and having an entire new generation growing up around them and everything…

I noticed after he flirted with a woman one day- even though _I_ thought she seemed interested, he walked away, looking discouraged. She was less irritable than most of his other 'partners' for the night or the week or however long they lasted the last time they got together. I've met like six of his exes now.

Two weeks, six exes. Damn, that man goes through women like- but not men. Only one ex have I met that was a man and it seems like it was really super serious with him. He gave Reyes those eyes, you know the moony eyes that people give their exes, wondering 'what if?'.

Anyway, the woman he walked away from was just a little gun-shy, it seemed. She looked at him with wariness. Hope for a nice night, but suspicion he might not be as nice as he seemed. Like women in my world would normally look at _all_ men they don't know.

He wasn't into that. After all, the reason he likes Ryder in-game is because they genuinely believe he's a good person. He likes it when people look at him and see just Reyes. Not the smuggler or the Charlatan, but the guy with the winning smile and ultimately good intentions.

Or so I hope.

And it's not like he's just a sex fiend- he doesn't sleep with all of them. He just seems to crave a certain kind of companionship and when something goes wrong- he gets…what do you call it when someone gives up all hope at the first sign of trouble?

"Ahhh…" He walks over to the table he's been sharing with me, sighing and cracking his neck. "Are you alright alone?"

I roll my eyes.

"Yes yes, I know." He flicks his hands in the air and walks backward a step or two before turning and walking around to the stairs.

Gave the guy his key to his room, or just told him to meet him at the door or something, I'm guessing. He's not at the table anymore, either way and that doesn't pause Reyes so…

My fingertips drum the table as he disappears to the upper level. I feel anxious when I can't see Reyes. Why? Well, he's been threatened three times in the past two weeks by possible conquests- and he's always getting into trouble with someone else outside that.

I mean, he can take care of himself and everything- his skills with a knife are nothing to shake a stick at, but…

Ugh. I push myself up into a standing position and walk over to the staircase, skirting the edge of the sofa set up near it before hanging a left and slipping up the steps with near-silent footsteps.

Growing up in my particular circumstances, I learned how to walk around without making noise. Just through the house like normal or up and down stairs- either way, I needed to keep from waking everyone up with my anxious pacing.

So as I creep up the stairs and then across the short stretch of floor between the top of stairs to Reyes's room…I'm silent. No one can hear me coming.

Reyes's room is basically soundproofed from the inside, but he can hear outside if he listens at the door through that one spot his comms are keyed into. It's kinda ingenious in its own way.

He taught me how to do it, too.

' _Just for a second. If you hear moaning or talking, you'll just fuck off. But if you hear gunshots or shouting or something…_ '

Listening to Reyes wax poetic about his favorite hookups and bemoaning the lack of decent women and interesting men around Kadara Port is how I spend a lot of my evenings so it's not like I'd hear anything that could scar me for life.

The door opens as soon as I walk up to it, which is…well. If he was _visiting_ , it would be locked. So, that's the first red alert in my brain as I step into the room, casting my gaze at the bed and then to the opposite side of the room when I see no one there.

Reyes is sitting on the opposite end, knees drawn up with his arms hanging off his knees. Sitting on the floor, back against the wall.

And his new friend is dead on the floor.

"Please," I put my hands up and sigh when his head lifts to look at me. "Tell me he was one of Sloane's or something." And not that this is just like…gunplay gone wrong. Ugh.

"Rival Smuggler, actually." He replies, dispassionately. "Wanted to get close enough to me to get a shot at me."

"So…what do we do with the body?" I ask, quirking a brow and locking the door behind me.

"That's it?" He asks, looking grimly amused. "Not- what were you thinking or-"

"No." I say simply. "We could always cut him into five pieces and smuggle the parts out in shipments to the Badlands. Drop them in the sulphur pits or feed them to the wildlife…"

"No. Nothing like that will be necessary…" He stands up slowly and then tilts his head at me. "How did you know?"

"I didn't." I reply, shifting my weight. "It's just happened so often lately that I got…anxious."

"Anxious." He says, chuckling and walking past me to the terminal by the foot of his bed. "You know, I could almost believe you care about me when you say things like that."

' _If only he knew._ ' Well. _I'm_ not gonna tell him. Reyes is a good man, in his own way…I'd at least try to catch his attention somehow if I weren't completely sure I'm nowhere near his type. I know too well how many secrets he keeps- not just because I played through the game and discovered his other persona.

I could smell the secrets on Reyes as soon as he showed up in Kralla's song. I didn't need the reveal to know _that_ about him.

I don't look at him with Naive, hopelessly-in-love eyes. I wonder what eyes I _do_ look at him with?


	7. Chapter 7

"Fucking duck!" I yank Reyes back behind cover with me. "And stay ducked!"

"We need to fire back or they will close on our position!" He shouts as a hail of gunfire riddles the cover we're hiding behind. Crates- and flimsy ones. Soon enough they'll be nothing more than swiss cheese and we'll be dead.

"We need to pull back to a more _defensible_ position and come up with a plan!" I shout back and lean around the other end of cover in a lull between shots to throw a flash-bang grenade into the melee.

Since they were kinda rushing us, like he said they would- they kinda flail in the other direction before it explodes- throwing them back, hopefully. It's a flash-bang, so I'm not looking at it when it goes, that would be stupid.

Reyes grabs my arm and pulls me behind him as we run through the cave network- one that the Collective is attempting to take from a bunch of scavenger/bandits in the Badlands. It wasn't just me and Reyes to begin with- there were a lot of us at first.

Maybe about twelve besides he and I? Anyway, we got separated.

Two people died right up front, three others got chased into cover and harried with bullets- the other seven or so scattered to take up positions. I'm sure there's a sniper or two waiting on us to run past them with pursuants so they can take them out from a high perch.

"Ai!" Reyes barks and leaps sideways, yanking me into a tiny tunnel after him as I glimpse more of them coming from the other direction. "Move, move-"

We come out on the other side of the weird-skinny corridor and he bolts for what looks like an exit to the caves.

Someone steps out of the opening and points a gun at us, so he pushes me one way and goes another. We both duck and roll and the spray of bullets narrowly misses Reyes.

He focused his fire on Reyes, which means he knows who he is or he just saw him carting me around and assumed I wasn't a threat.

His mistake. One volley of shots from my rifle and he's down.

"Let's get out of here!" Reyes rushes for the entrance but pauses in the opening to look around the area.

I can hear the other ones coming through the opening in the skinny tunnel behind us.

I run up next to him and grimace at the sight of the drop-off with a running river of sulphur-water below us. "It's either get a little poisoned and possibly survive, or die full of bullets," I say quickly, putting my rifle back in its magnetic holster. "Reyes?"

"Jump!" He yanks me over the cliff with him and we fall into a deep-ish river of sulphuric water that we immediately swallow a _lot_ of. And we fell for like a full thirty seconds. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it seemed that long!

I cough and spit the water out, already feeling weighed down and woozy. The water is the only thing I can hear, rushing and splashing and pulling us further downstream. Fighting against it is useless, the current is too strong for my suddenly too-weak body-

I get snagged by an arm around my waist and move my head enough to see Reyes clinging to a jutting rock on the side of the river. "Come on, come on," he mutters and slowly pulls me toward the shore. "Grab hold of something, don't pass out on me."

My hands are clumsy as I reach out and rake them over the shore. Pulling and yanking and wriggling until I'm lying on the bank choking up water and coughing.

Reyes is able to crawl up and lean against a nearby huge rock. He's gasping, but not as much as I am. He's not choking up water, either. "Here." He pulls a small bottle out of his belt and pops one of the pills in it, handing me the bottle after. "For the poisoning. You'll want to hurry."

My hands are shaking and I have to take off my gloves to be sure not to drop them all over the place, but I eventually get a pill down, swallowing it dry. It makes my throat feel weird to do that, I hate swallowing dry.

"Take two, I took one earlier." He sighs. "You should take one every time you leave Kadara, preferably with a bottle on your hip. Probably should have thought of that sooner."

I snort a little as I hand back the bottle after the second pill, almost smacking it into his hand. He isn't as fumbly as I am, and this explains it. "We need to move on from here, don't we?"

"As soon as possible, but I am reluctant to leave the caves before knowing all my people are definitely dead or gone." He curses under his breath and sighs. "Damn it. Why did this happen?"

"Did anyone know you were moving besides the people you were taking?" He didn't even really tell _me_ where we were going- and like an idiot, I just followed without asking. Trusting him not to lead me to my death.

"They didn't know we were coming until this morning when I briefed them," he shakes his head. "This was _mine_. No one else knew about-" His eyes flicker but he shakes his head. "No one could have told them, anyway. My people are loyal."

"Reyes." I say softly and tilt my head when he looks at me. "Who did you just think of?"

His head turns away and his brows furrow as his mouth presses into a firm line. "Shit," he huffs and slams his fist into the ground beside him.

… … … …

After Reyes ferrets out the mole, basically just walking up to the guy and marking him for a sniper- we have a drink. Or well, Reyes has a drink and I just kinda sit there looking on sympathetically.

"I cannot believe this," he sighs into his metallic cup. "He was one of my most loyal-or so I thought."

"Did you find out how they got to him?" I ask with some concern. That's his third cup of…whatever that turpentine-smelling shit is.

"They paid him off. Didn't threaten his family or his life or anything even _remotely_ forgivable." Slouching into the table, he pushes away his cup. "Why? He knew the risk he was taking. He knew the people he would hurt- the people who died in the caves were his _friends_."

His fists are clenching and unclenching on the table. "Come on, Reyes." I get up and start tugging until he moves off the table and stands unsteadily on his feet. "I've got you, this way." I sling one of his arms over my shoulder nonchalantly and wrap one around his waist so I can catch him if he stumbles.

We didn't lose all of them, like we thought we might've. Just four people who died and the rest who ran away when they saw their odds. Reyes doesn't blame them and neither do I. Better to survive to fight another day in less horrible circumstances.

I walk him all the way up to his room, though he stumbles on the stairs a couple of times. I wave my hand to open his door and we walk through, another wave of my hand closing and locking the door.

I'm suddenly wrapped up in an unexpected embrace.

His face is buried in the curve of my throat where most of my hair is piled after taking it out of its tie. Arms curled around my shoulders. "I don't understand," he says- while sounding so _tired_.

"Not everything that happens, makes sense." I know he's drunk and sad and that he's probably not going to even remember most of this in the morning- so I care less about my rapid pulse and whether or not he'll notice and just, wrap my arms around his waist to squeeze him tight. "I'm here, if you need me. But you should sleep."

His arms tighten and his face presses deeper.

"I could…lie on the bed with you, if you want." I don't know what he'll think when he wakes up, but I'm not just gonna leave him alone like this.

His grip loosens enough I can disentangle myself and pull him over to the bed. He's blinking so heavily and his eyes are so glazed over, I have to take off his jacket and belts myself. Then his shoes when he finally crawls onto the bed.

I've never seen him like this. Sure, I've only known him a grand total of…what, two and a half months? Still, this is…worrying.

I lie on the bed next to him, thinking maybe he'll just need me to be beside him. Maybe listen to me breathe in the quiet dark of his room or-

But he rolls over to put his head on my stomach and wrap his arms around my waist. ' _God Reyes, why are you so touchy tonight?_ '

I mean sure, he'll occasionally reach out and touch my arm or my shoulder or pull me into a little sideways hug when something goes well- but this is new.

I sigh and settle in with my hand automatically lifting to run through his hair.

He shivers and finally starts to relax, body going pliant as my fingertips rake over his scalp- god his hair is so _soft._

I'll be out of here before morning, but for now…I can just enjoy the feel of him against me and his hair between my fingertips.


	8. Reyes POV

Ah…my Skylar is a saint.

"Here, take these." She hands me a glass of water and two capsules. "I'll get you some coffee, just…don't move yet." Her gesture with her hands is almost comical when paired with the severe expression on her face.

Waking up to find her scent in my bed but her nowhere to be seen nearly had me in a panic. Though when she appeared with the pills, I realized she had likely only carried me to bed and that nothing had happened between us. I tend to get…affectionate when I'm drunk.

I don't feel as if I have a broken nose, so that is a good sign I did not cross a line somewhere. I have no doubt she would have beat me insensate if I had.

She always smells of a crisp apple soap she prefers. My own preference is for vanilla…the combination of the scents on my pillow is oddly relaxing.

Popping the capsules in my mouth, I sip the water and swallow until they're both down and I've drunk the whole of the glass. Hopefully doing so slowly will mean I will not throw it all up later.

Skylar is a complicated woman, angry and severe but soft and protective. She has already made the slums safer simply by walking down the street with that massive scowl on her face. She only had to intervene in an altercation between an off-duty dancer and a man once, and that was enough for everyone in the slums to know they didn't want to be the target of her ire.

I believe she broke his arm and every bone in his hand- and his nose and cheekbone before she was finished. Then she walked the dancer home. Her reputation is…mixed.

Much like mine, I suppose. As Reyes, I am a charmer or a sleaze. As the Charlatan I am both terrifying and inspiring, somehow.

"Here, I got some sugar from the machine, but they didn't have the creamer you like." She shuts the door behind herself, holding two different mugs of coffee. "They had my mint, so I got an extra if you wanted one."

She hands me one and dumps a small plastic cup full of green powder into hers before handing me the other.

I cannot drink coffee with only a small amount of sugar in it, it isn't much better than sweet tar. So I dump the cup into my mug as well. The powder will dissolve without stirring, I need only wait a moment. Taking time to inhale the mint-scented coffee is very calming. "Thank you."

"You got wasted last night. You remember anything?" she frowns and settles on the edge of my bed.

"I will assume you carried me to bed, but no- I remember nothing." There are flashes of information. Fingers in my hair, heart-wrenching confusion…other small bits and pieces I cannot make heads or tails of. "Well, we have a full day ahead of us."

"Yeah, why are we capturing Adhi again?" She sips at her coffee, humming at the flavor. She likes mint, apple and other crisp, clean scents and flavors…I've begun a list of the flavors and scents she favors. She may not be much for luxury but if I can spoil her, I will.

"The Collective is paying well for them," I shrug at her dubious glance. "If they succeed in domesticating the things, well…I do miss dogs." Sighing and sipping from the slightly green-tinted coffee, I relax as the warmth of it rushes down my throat. The crisp aftertaste always causes a gasp from me when I've sampled the mint coffee and it is no different now.

Skylar snorts at me, "can't handle the candy coffee?"

"You know I prefer caramel," I speak the words very slowly with the caress to my words that will usually at least make a woman shiver.

She rolls her eyes at me, "caramel, butterscotch or vanilla roast, I know."

I chuckle, "they didn't have _any_ of those?"

"More people had a bender last night than usual, I think." She bites her lip and glares at the wall. "I had to buy the last three mint flavorings they had, and I've squirreled the last one away in my go-bag."

A more boisterous laugh leaves me and I wince at the pain in my head. Those tablets are fast-acting, but they do not get rid of the hangover completely.

Skylar is the kind of woman who stands up for others and is loyal to the very end, but she is also an enigma. Pure and good in ways that are obvious, but cunning and clever. She follows me anywhere without question, though not without complaint and she always has an idea for how to resolve a problem with less effort or less death.

I have decided to groom her to be my successor, if I am ever killed in action, she will take my place. Not only as 'Reyes the smuggler' but also the Charlatan.

I wouldn't trust someone so quickly, normally. But in her own abrasive way, Skylar is quite transparent. If she continues to be transparent for a few months more, then I will bring her into the fold and officially name her my successor.

I still cannot tell if she is enamored of me or if this is simply how being her friends feels- it is entirely too intense for mere friendship, I thought.

But she does not react to me the way men and women do who are attracted to me… _react_.

The whole situation is baffling.

I have had friends, but perhaps this _is_ something more. Perhaps this is what it's like to have a real, true friend who will never abandon or betray you? I have never experienced that level of devotion directed at me before.

I would say she is too soft for Kadara, but Neeva is correct. The way she acts is a deliberate choice and it seems to be in response to some kind of awful hardship she's experienced in her life. She struggles with it sometimes, jaw working, teeth grinding…sometimes even needing to take a pause and breathe before responding to someone.

But she always errs on the side of courtesy. Except with me. When she speaks to me, she is all unfiltered truth. I hope that never changes. "Well. Time to get up."


	9. Chapter 9

" _You look like you're waiting for someone,_ " Reyes's voice over the comms almost makes me roll my eyes.

I'm sitting at one of the tables in Kralla's, waiting for him to be done talking to Ryder.

Yeap, he finally showed up. Scott Ryder, all gangly limb'd and everything.

" _I ah…I am._ " I can hear his response and the shift as Reyes hands him a mug of Umi's special. " _Th-thanks._ "

"God, he's a baby. Be nice to him." I mutter into the open comm channel.

Reyes chuckles and I hear Ryder cough on a swallow of the drink. " _Shena, but you can call me Reyes. I hate codenames._ "

" _I was expecting…someone more…Angaran?_ " Scott says haltingly.

Reyes does that practiced chortle from the game and it makes me snort into my drink. God, it's so obviously fake. " _The Resistance pays me to supply information…among…other things._ "

" _So you're a smuggler?_ " The surprise in his voice…oh, poor baby Ryder. He's hitting Reyes's innocence buttons.

" _Your man, Vehn Terev was taken captive by Sloane Kelly. Leader of the Outcasts. Word spread about what he did to Moshae Sjefa._ "

I drift off a little, watching the bar's clientele for anyone a little too interested in the Pathfinder and Reyes's conversation. Basically just watching out for anyone staring at them, glancing too much in their direction or looking disgruntled when they look at Reyes.

I'm not the type to kill someone for looking at him wrong, but I would definitely knife a bitch if they got too close with that look on their face. That specific look people have on their face when they try to kill Reyes. I don't know how I can recognize it but it's just happened so many times now, I don't even question it.

Reyes makes his exit and I watch Scott for a few more minutes before getting up to leave…

"Hey there," A Turian sidles up to Scott and gives him the up-down. Shit, Ryder's waist is super tiny, he's probably really hot. I can't tell because he's just so young and soft-looking. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Oh, uh. Thank you but, I have one I haven't finished yet…" Scott fumbles and his face flushes.

' _Shit,_ ' I move toward Scott. ' _He has no fucking clue._ '

"We could hang out till you're finished and I could buy you another, get to know each other better." God, this guy is fucking smooth. Compared to Reyes anyway.

"Ryder," I call out to him from behind the Turian.

He turns around to glance at me with irritation, then he backs quickly away from Ryder with his hands up. "I wasn't making any trouble."

"I know." I respond with a quirked brow as he runs off to find someone else to bother.

"Uh…hello?" Scott's biting his lip and fidgeting with his mug now. "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah, lots of things. Hey, do me a favor?" I lean on the counter and put my right hand on my hip.

"Wh-what do you need?" He puts the mug down and tries to lean casually on the counter too, but he just looks really _awkward_.

I chuckle, "call a friend to come down here and stay with you when you're on Kadara. Even if they're not all that intimidating, just don't go anywhere alone. It'd make me less anxious if I didn't see you walkin' around like shark bait."

"I can protect myself," he says with a little pout.

"Yeah I saw you just take a drink from a complete stranger without even scanning it for some kind of drug or poison," I snark. "Real smart."

He turns dark red then and glances away, stuttering a little. "I-I mean, I-"

"Look, you're adorable." I reach out and pat his shoulder. "You really are. And I'm sure you can hold your own with a gun, you just scream military- but you have to know there's more than one kind of danger. Look out for yourself, kid. Scan everything you eat and drink before you eat or drink it."

I back away slowly, shrugging.

"Ah, w-wait-" he walks up to where I've paused at the door. "Um…can I ask…your name?"

I quirk a brow. "Skylar. I'll be seeing you around, Pathfinder."

"Ryder," he clears his throat. "Scott Ryder."

"I know," I reply and turn on my heel, leaving the bar.

It doesn't take long to find Reyes once I leave Kralla's.

"What was _that_?" He asks, smooth and curious as we walk down the street toward the slums.

"What was what?" I frown at him beside me.

"I still had the comms on. You came to little Ryder's rescue and made an impression." He says with a tight-lipped smile. "I usually do all the seducing, but if you're that eager to get in on the action…"

I scoff, "you're full of it. He's…small and soft and young." I make a face as I say it, to make it clear that it's not at all appealing. "I just didn't want him to get hurt."

"Are you sure?" He lifts both brows at me. "He seemed quite taken with you."

"He can take it somewhere else, he's too damn nice for me." I respond.

"Alright, alright." He makes a 'calm down' motion with his hands. "If you say so. Still, I think he likes you better than me. Maybe we should just have you talk to him from now on."

"I'll go _with_ you," I respond. "I'm not talking to that kid alone. If he actually tries flirting with me I'll offend the poor kid. And he seemed pretty into you, too."

"Hm," he shakes his head and laughs. "It feels like we're teenagers talking about a boy in class we think is cute."

I can't help it, I snort and have to bend over a little to get control of myself. My shoulders shake, my eyes water and I have to clench my hands on my knees to stay upright. Little noises are escaping me, like squeaky giggles. It'd probably be less embarrassing just to laugh- but I finally stand upright and glare at him. "You didn't hear that." It's probably not all that effective- as there's still laughter in my voice and he doesn't seem repentant.

"Hear what?" he turns, grinning, and leads the way back to Tartarus.


	10. Reyes POV

' _She's_ _ **jealous**_ _,_ ' echoes in my mind even as we leave Ryder behind in the newly cleared Roekarr den and make our way back to Tartarus. Even still as she prepares the usual two cups of mint and vanilla tea for our after-mission drinks.

I can still remember the way she behaved the whole mission. At first I thought it was just her usual sarcastic spirit showing itself around someone new. She is often polite and courteous to everyone _but_ me so I thought perhaps she felt comfortable enough to be the person she is with me, with _him_ as well.

I must admit to some jealousy myself in that area. Knowing I am the only person she calls an idiot and smacks in the back of the head is oddly…satisfying.

The more caustic she became, however- the more I began to notice a pattern.

I would flirt with Ryder or he would flirt with me, and she would make a snappy comment. Or- one of his companions would say something along the lines of teasing Ryder for being interested in me and she would come to his _defense_.

That was a whole new level of confusion. I thought perhaps her jealousy was for _me_ then- jealous that Scott didn't pay her as much attention. Though he _did_ , she just didn't see it.

( _You are interested in this Reyes, Ryder?_ ) The Angaran had stated bluntly. ( _Interesting. Angara consider a partner more attractive the more dependable they are. Isn't he a criminal?_ )

And then she broke in over Ryder's flushed stuttering, over the comms. ( _Reyes works for Evfra, what he does is done for the betterment of Kadara_ )- _that_ didn't make me stumble or anything. ( _And humans have a fascination with rebellion and anti-heroes._ )

They spent an entire ten minutes shooting the shit before the Roekarr noticed them in that antechamber and I couldn't show myself for many reasons- but I was listening. We are always keyed in to each other's comms on assignments. She knew I was listening, didn't she?

The Angara had simply rumbled 'interesting' and that was that for that conversation. But it wasn't the last thing to be said, of course.

The Turian was better. More subtle. ( _So Skylar…if we work with Reyes, will we be seeing you more often?_ )

She had paused for a moment and I waited with anticipation for reasons I _still_ don't understand… ( _I go everywhere with Reyes. He's constantly almost dying so I have to protect him._ ) She is so precious and so deadly- these two things do not normally go together. Unless you're Angaran, but for a human this is just odd.

( _Uh, so…are you two…?_ ) Scott had attempted to bungle through the question of whether or not we were something.

( _A package deal? I don't know. If you want Reyes to leave me behind you'll have to ask him if he'd ever do that- but if you want me, then yes. You'll have to bring Reyes, too._ ) I do not know if she was actually oblivious or just playing at it.

And then, after all was said and done and the Roekarr were dead…

( _Careful, I'll start to think you like me_ ) I'd said to Ryder.

( _Would that…be so bad?_ ) He had asked so innocently. So earnestly. Really, it was adorable.

And then she walked between us, forcing us apart. ( _Ugh, I'm covered in blood. I'm using your shower when we get back, Reyes_ )

Not only implying that she would normally be welcome in my shower but that she needn't even ask _permission_. I could see Scott's expression crumple- and I couldn't tell which of us he was more disappointed was apparently off the market. Me, or Skylar.

And now here we are, sitting on the sofa next to each other, drinking our respective teas as I look over information on a datapad and she taps something into her omni-tool.

"I thought you were going to use my shower?" I ask as I casually thumb through the information and sip my tea.

"I figured it could wait until I got done ordering some things," she responds just as casually.

"Hm…" she was jealous. There is no other explanation. This is the behavior of a jealous woman. But is she jealous of me, of Scott, of both of us? Is it a romantic jealousy, a sexual jealousy, the jealousy of an apprentice who looks up to me and wants to monopolize my time without any romantic or sexual context whatsoever…?

Skylar turns me inside out and it is beginning to…excite me. In all the wrong ways. I am feeling the same way I do before I gear up for a hunt, out in the Badlands. I want to stalk her like a lion stalks a gazelle…and that is incredibly violent imagery- why do people use animals to describe these things?

I want to know more about Skylar, I want to give her things that will make her smile and I want her to smile only for me. This is…hinging dangerously close to infatuation. _Obsessive_ infatuation, even. I've even ordered her damn mint coffee and tea mixes in bulk- they'll be arriving soon enough and she won't have to buy them from the machine anymore.

I feel the need to go out and find the rarest flower on Kadara and present it to her in the form of an exotic lotion or shampoo- how does one even make flowers into such things? I don't know but I'd be willing to do it-

"Reyes, you're holding that datapad super tight, are you okay?" Her hand is on my shoulder- like so many times before. But it _feels_ different now. It burns and tingles even through my armor.

I laugh nervously and set down my datapad, standing up. "I will take one first, if you don't mind. I won't take long…" I turn around and back into the bathroom, grinning. "Unless you'd like to join me?"

She rolls her eyes at me, "I knew that promise was bullshit."

"Is a proposition considered flirting?" I muse as I disappear into the bathroom.

"Oh, that is such a bullshit loophole!" she calls after me.

True, it is indeed.

I undress slowly, peeling my armor and underclothes away from my body with a grimace. Blood is disgusting under the very best of circumstances. Coupled with sand…it is just downright gross.

It is only after the water has rinsed all of the blood and sand from my body and hair and I've shut it off that I realize…I haven't stopped thinking about Skylar since the possibility of her jealousy occurred to me.

This is dangerous. Being this enamored of Skylar is dangerous. As prickly as she is, she is soft and sweet and considerate. What she said of Scott Ryder is no less true in reference to herself. If I were to pursue her, I might break her.

But I am already too far gone to let go, and I am selfish and greedy and weak. If she leaves me, the choice is taken out of my hands- but I will throw myself at this with everything I am, everything I have…

If she rejects me, so be it- but no one will be able to say I didn't _try_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My version of Reyes falls hard and fast-- a lot like the in-game version, with a few key differences.


	11. Skylar POV, Reyes POV

"You're acting weird," I say slowly as I open the box filled with mint coffee and tea mixes of all kinds and all brands.

He was nervous all morning, and then he sort of got sullen and quiet when I just shrugged at the boxes of mint coffee and tea mix. I figured he was just going for never running out of something drinkable again.

He laughs a little, "am I?" It doesn't sound happy, but it's not bitter. It has a note of frustration in it. "Well…do you like them at least?"

"Do I like wha-oh." I look down at a little cup of mint tea mix in my hand and then glance up at him with wide eyes. " _Oh._ " I know he does this, he lavishes people with things to show affection. I guess we're finally friends. "I…thank…you?"

"Now _you_ are acting weird," he says with a little frown. "Do you not like mint anymore?" Eyes darting about like he's already figuring out something else to get me.

I put my hands up, face turning bright red- I can feel it. "No no! I like them, I…" I drop my hands and dip my head. "People don't…give me things." My hands clench on my thighs.

The few times anyone got me a gift, it seemed like a perfunctory thing. It was my birthday so my best friend got me a birthday gift- it was christmas so I got a gift from my dad.

The one time my mother surprised me with a big gift, it was a car. Well, not a car, more like an SUV. I couldn't drive and I was so mentally disabled that I didn't _want_ to for fear of veering into a tree when I drifted off into la~la land- but she got me a vehicle.

Mostly so _she_ could use it but say 'hey look, I got you a car, look how good a parent I am'.

"Never?" he asks.

I don't look up, I just clutch my thighs with my hands a little harder as I talk. "I mean…I've gotten things. But not…just _because_. I got things because it looked good for me to get things and because I needed something and never asked for anything and people felt pity for me…and not things I actually _liked_ or _needed_ -"

"Skylar," he's kneeling next to me and I jolt a little. I hadn't realized he was moving.

My head dips further when he tries to look me in the eye. I don't want him to see the weird expression on my face. Wide eyes, shivering mouth, possible tears… "I-s-sorry." I shove myself to my feet and take a few very quick steps over to the bathroom- closing myself inside with a quick wave of my hand.

' _Shit,_ ' I just totally flipped out over _tea_ and _coffee_ flavorings! What the fuck is wrong with me?

I sit with my back against the door and just breathe, flinching when I hear Reyes's voice over the comms. " _Skylar…it's okay. You don't need to hide in there._ "

I take in a few increasingly ragged breaths as my eyes spill over with those tears I just _knew_ were there.

" _You don't need to come out, either- obviously._ " He trips over his words a little. " _Do you want me to take the boxes away?_ "

I open and close my mouth and feel a crushing shame at the thought of speaking and trying to explain this. This is so…pathetic!

So I open the messaging app on my omni-tool.

_No. -Skylar_

" _Alright…what do you need?_ " he asks, voice quiet.

Isn't that the question.

_I don't know. -Skylar_

" _I have to go and meet up with someone…will you be alright alone?_ " The defeat in his voice makes me feel like a piece of shit.

_Need me to go? -Skylar_

I've shoved my feelings down before, I can do it again…even if it makes me feel sick. I have to keep him safe-

" _No, you just…stay and take your time._ " He turns off the line then.

* * *

 

Reyes POV

"Reyes, you're distracted." Keema is sharing a drink with me at Tartarus while we debrief about Collective activities. "What's the matter?"

I sigh and roll my shoulders, cracking my neck. "It's nothing, really. I'm just…horrible at everything." I dip my head and run my fingers through my hair. The product I use to keep it looking clean and neat has long since worn off. Skylar hid herself in the bathroom so I couldn't get to my personal care products, but I don't think I would feel like putting them on, either way.

"Well, that doesn't sound like nothing." She lifts a brow at me, so interesting how that gesture translates across species.

"I got my apprentice a gift and she locked herself in our bathroom," I sigh. "I triggered a part of her personality I was not prepared for."

"I'm not surprised, she only shows you one part, it was inevitable that the other pieces of her show up at some point," Keema smirks when I throw her an irritable glance. "I've asked around, Reyes. I don't need spy cameras to know things about you."

"Why am I always stumbling into the exact wrong thing to do and learning everything the hard way?" I ask, taking a long gulp from the bottle on the table in front of me.

"Because you throw yourself into things without thinking through the consequences. That always confuses me, how you can be so patient and tactically minded in battle but everything else is impulsive and ill-thought out." Her eyes crinkle slightly at the edges, less than a human's would- but still noticeable.

"Are you going to make fun or give me advice?" I ask with a twist at the edge of my mouth. Not quite a smile, not quite _not_ a smile.

"Well, my only piece of advice is: Get to know her better before you do anything." She says, sipping her drink. Something fruity the Angara love. "Find out about her interests, all of them. When she seems to be acting strangely, dig _deeper_ instead of backing off."

Sighing and shrugging my shoulders, I reply, "I suppose that is reasonable." I will have to get to know Skylar better _before_ trying to catch her eye. I will be the best friend she has ever known, then. As she is to me.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay!

After my weird freak-out and subsequent stint hiding in the bathroom, I figured Reyes might avoid me entirely. That maybe he'd just slowly distance himself from me like friends I've had in the past have done when I've had a mild panic attack or emotional outburst.

Really, I couldn't blame any of them. My behavior bordered on abusive sometimes- not hitting usually, though when I was younger I might've grabbed people's hair or smacked their hands or any number of things. By the time I was in high school, I'd reigned in the anger and other emotions enough to just erupt with sobs and shrieking when I was overwhelmed.

Nowadays I just kinda shake and tears sometimes escape.

After taking a short shower and changing my clothes, I left the bathroom to find a disheveled Reyes sitting on his bed, scrolling his way through data on a datapad.

I mean, his armored outfit is as impeccable as usual, but his hair is kind of…all over the place. A little curly, a little wavy…falling over his forehead in a way that begs to be played with…shit.

I notice after I get caught staring that he's looking at me from over the top of the datapad. His expression is unreadable, which is weird. Usually when I get caught staring he quirks a brow and smirks, smiles or grins at me. Or he might even quip something like 'enjoying the view?'.

"I have an assignment to do tomorrow evening, would you rather stay in?" He asks.

Glossing over the whole thing and asking me if I'm ready to get back to work yet or not without saying the words.

I want to go out and protect him, get to work…but I don't think I'll be back to normal by tomorrow. "Yeah I think so…"

"Good!" He drops his datapad and swings his legs over to plant his feet on the floor. Surprising me. "I had something planned for tonight and I was hoping we could sleep in tomorrow."

"S-something planned?" I blink at him as he strides across the room and picks up a bundle of clothes on the table nearby. "What-"

"I will be out momentarily, please wait for me. Don't go anywhere." He turns to smile at me when he walks into the bathroom, and it's…different than usual.

I puzzle over his odd behavior as he disappears into the bathroom and the door closes behind him. ' _What's different?_ ' Nothing seems all that strange, he's just-

He's stopped flirting with me.

I blink at that realization and feel both relieved and suddenly depressed. I flop on the sofa and beat back the tears in my eyes with thoughts like ' _at least he finally thinks of me as a friend and doesn't just see me as a pair of tits and an ass anymore. I mean…I think he's more respectful than that-_ '

"Skylar?" He's kneeling down in front of me, his hair styled less rigorously than usual but not as untamed as before. Wearing a white button-down shirt, black pants and shoes…like a suit but without the jacket or tie…and his shirt is unbuttoned a little more than it should be, of course. Reyes is nothing if not stylish.

And he looks _concerned_. Reyes never shows what he's really thinking. Even when he got drunk, he showed the sadness and confusion only _after_ getting intoxicated. Up till then it was all low-key anger.

He puts a hand on my knee and squeezes, "do you want to stay in tonight? I can cancel our plans-"

"I can go," I say quickly. Breathing back the tears that still haven't escaped. I can't ruin his night when I've already ruined his day. I mean, sure, he goes places without me and he used to, just fine…but that weird-ass reaction from me when he was trying to be nice probably made him feel bad.

"Skylar, don't push yourself. We aren't working tonight but if being around people is going to be a problem, we can put this off for another time." He says with a direct look.

"I can be _around_ people," I insist. "You'll just…have to carry the conversations…which you kinda usually do anyway."

He chuckles and his eyes seem to glow- god, how does he _do_ that. "As long as you're sure…"

"I'm sure," I scoff and realize with sudden clarity that I'm more annoyed than depressed. "Quit irritating me."

His lips pull up in a smile that makes my heart stutter, just a little. "No promises."

He leads me out of Tartarus in a slightly better, more fiery mood and up out of the slums, surprisingly enough.

Reyes usually prefers to spend all his money in the slums, that way it circulates mostly in the slums. He's…I guess the word would be conscientious- that way. Always aware of his impact on the world around him in some way, even if he's completely oblivious about some things.

"You've gone quiet again, do you want to talk about it?" He's walking through the Port with me, smiling over his shoulder for a moment before facing front again.

"Not really," I respond. "It's not something that talking fixes." It's never fixed it before, why should now be any different, really.

"Well, we're almost there. You won't have to avoid smacking into the populace for much longer." He's amused, the ass.

"Hey, not everyone is in a hurry to get shanked on Kadara, you know." I respond while dodging out of the way of a particularly _thorny_ -looking Turian.

He chuckles, "it isn't _my_ fault that people are constantly trying to kill us."

"It is so your fault in so many ways I can't even name them all. Way one? You're a smarmy ass and people like the idea of knocking you _on_ yours," I deadpan.

He snorts a bit at that, but it's more of a huff. "It's a little irritating that I can't even argue with that."


	13. Reyes POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been so long. Shit's been going on in RL plus all my other stories...
> 
> So, here ya go.

I've never seen 'shy' Skylar before.

I've seen anti-social Skylar. Protective Skylar. Angry Skylar. Irritable Skylar. Even sad Skylar.

"So, do you like science?" Suvi Anwar, the science officer is attempting to engage her. Everyone else gave up after her first monosyllabic answer or shrug. "Biology, Geology…?"

"I don't know anything about anything enough to be called an expert," Skylar replies, looking uncomfortable.

"No one really is, though, when it comes to science!" the redhead replies with a bright smile. "That's the really fun thing about it. We can think we know everything there is to know about something and then find out we were all wrong!" Her brogue is incredibly easy on the ears.

"Personally I prefer pretty rocks to dangerous wildlife, but perhaps that's just me." I interject with a smile, leaning on the wall next to Skylar and attempting to avoid staring at her.

"You like the Adhi," she huffs. Surprising. I could swear we've never spoken of that before.

"A bit, yes. I would still rather a giant sapphire over an Adhi, though." I reply.

"A Sapphire?" Suvi asks, eyebrows lifting. "Not a Diamond or Platinum or anything like that?"

"The cost doesn't matter to me, I like sparkly rocks because they're  _pretty_." I say with a half-smile. "Sapphires, Rubies…anything sparkly, shiny and arranged decoratively on a ring, earring or some other piece of jewelry, really."

"You don't wear any though," Skylar comments, looking at me with curiosity. That is also new.

"Mmh, no. I prefer to see it than wear it," one of my most prevalent fantasies is someone draped in jewels and glittering scarves…. "I'm not sure  _why_ …I simply like pretty things."

"Oh I like tattoos and body paints," Suvi looks dreamy for a moment and then flushes as she comes back to herself, biting her lip. "Ah well…"

"Ooooh," Cora sidles up to us, leaning on Skylar's other side. "Body paints. Edible ones, maybe?"

Suvi flushes a deeper pink, "perhaps."

"Which flavors?" Skylar asks, tilting her head. She looks so incredibly innocent when she asks questions. She doesn't even seem uncomfortable with this particular subject.

Suvi sighs as her hand covers her face, "mostly banana and cherry."

Cora laughs loudly and draws everyone's attention toward us. And that is when I feel Skylar shrinking a bit into my side and look down to find her attempting to disappear between myself and the wall, and since I am  _leaning_  on the wall…

She is just incredibly close. She is more uncomfortable than I thought she would be in this situation.

"So when does the movie start?" I ask, to draw attention to me. "And where is Scott?"

"With Jaal, probably," Vetra comments with a wry flick of her mandibles. "They lose track of time when they're tinkering."

Cora smiles and then tilts her head at Suvi. "Just so you know, I  _love_  cherries."

Suvi flushes a deep maroon and makes a yelping noise in her throat, "Cora!"

Skylar seems surprised by this flirtatious banter, and then her lips curl in a devilish smile. "I think honey'd suit you better."

They both laugh at that. And she is no longer looking quite so uncertain of herself.

"Hey come on, you got it?" Liam and Gil are carrying in a projection device. "Where are all those engineer muscles?"

"I'm liftin' the damn thing, shut up." Gil grunts.

Skylar snickers a bit and lifts her hand to hide her mouth with her fist, like she's hiding a cough. It's incredibly alluring to see her this way. I just regret that she has to feel insecure in the first place. But...

I wanted her to have one night when she didn't have to worry about someone shivving her in an alley, or shooting her out in the Badlands...to enjoy herself.

After what happened with my attempt at gift-giving...well, I thought it would be a good idea to expose her to more people- more people I knew I could trust not to try to kill us which is...a short list. And I only trust Scott because he's so obviously the squeaky-clean type with morals and upstanding codes of conduct.

Vetra I've dealt with before, through intermediaries more than anything else- as both the Charlatan  _and_  simply myself.

Liam and Cora have files that are easily accessed, but beyond that, I don't know much about them. Liam seems to be hotheaded and Cora is a human with biotics powerful enough to be trained by Asari.

The Angara who walks in a moment after the projector is set up, is Evfra's right-hand man. It was surprising to hear that he'd boarded a human ship…though knowing who they came to Kadara for and what they'd done, it makes a certain kind of sense.

Everyone begins finding a seat  _on_  the sofa or around it, and I slip into place beside Scott and his Angaran friend, with Skylar on my other side.

The science officer and biotic sit in front of us, leaning their backs against the couch between our legs- Liam and Gil doing the same with Scott and Jaal.

Kallo and Vetra recline back against upraised knees while Drack leans against a wall and Lexi sits in a corner with a Datapad.

Scott is giving her a very unimpressed look, but seems to decide that argument isn't worth it.

We settle in to watch the movie and I catch Scott throwing a sideways glance at us. He sighs and settles back in his seat, the Angara taking notice of his odd drop in mood and leaning into his side a bit.

Interesting. I still don't know who he's more upset to lose to the other. Skylar? Me? Both of us?

I'm just glad he's not actively pursuing her.

How would I compete with that?


	14. Chapter 14

I mostly just try to hide behind Reyes all night. I'm not proud of it, but it's my go-to.

There's just one problem.

Eventually he has to get up and stretch his legs, or go to the bathroom or _something_ and I don't want to seem clingy, so I stay behind.

And that's when Scott slides over a little and leans in to talk to me.

Everyone else is engaged in discussion as the movie goes on, talking about how good or bad things are- it seems the movie is just a topic of conversation for them. So no one else even seems to realize we're talking.

Scott doesn't really threaten me, like most unknown people do, but he still kind of makes me nervous.

"Hey, I'm glad you came. You guys should take time off with us more often when we're on Kadara," he says with a smile.

And it's just so genuine and sweet and his expression is so open. "Thank you for…inviting us, I guess?" I don't know if he did, or if Reyes just invited us along without asking. He tends to do that.

"Reyes said you needed some time off and I'd been meaning to do this for a while, so I figured…why not, right?" he says, looking a little nervous himself now.

And I have a moment of horror when I realize what happened.

Reyes called Ryder and asked if he was free, and Ryder scrambled to be free for him. Oh my god, poor Ryder. Reyes might actually be interested in him, I mean, he's flirted back- so it's not a matter of whether or not he likes him back, it's…

Oh poor _Ryder_ who's so soft and sweet and naive and he'll probably- try to save Sloane, but be unable to shoot Reyes- I can see it happening, I can see it in my head.

"Skylar, you okay?" Ryder whispers and grasps my shoulder.

I shake my head as tears start streaming down my face, seeing the eventual drop of Reyes' shoulders, the droop of his expression when he realizes he just lost Kadara _and_ Ryder…and…

Ryder takes my hand and slowly leads me out of the lounge, pulling me up off the couch and curling an arm around my waist as he ushers me down the hall and into- oh. It's the Med-bay.

And Lexi is behind us, "Ryder?" He must have signaled her, or something.

"I don't- I don't know what I did, something's wrong," he says.

Of course he'd think it's his fault. "I…" I strangle on my words a little. "…fine…"

"This isn't what I would call 'fine', miss…Skylar," Lexi says. Tripping over my first name. "This seems to be a panic attack."

"Ah, there you are," Reyes walks in, sounding relieved. "What happened?" ah that, was cold.

"I don't know, I was just talking to her, and…" Ryder gestures at my teary eyes.

"S'not…fault," is basically all I can get out. I'm not sobbing, but my throat feels closed up.

"I should have stayed home with you," he mutters as he walks over and I feel so _bad_. "I'm sorry I made you come, Skylar."

"S'not _that_ either…" I gasp a little and rub at my eyes. God, I must look awful, don't look at me.

"Alright…everyone out, I think she needs to talk but both of you are too close," Lexi points out the door. "I'm a doctor, I can handle this. I will send her back out when we're through."

Reyes looks on the verge of arguing, but Ryder grasps his shoulder. "Come on, I don't know what to do here, and I don't think you do, either. Lexi's good at this stuff."

His lips press together in a hard line, and then he turns and walks out of the med-bay with Ryder.

And then I get treated to an entire… _thing_.

Lexi turns down the lights so they're not so bright, makes some tea and gives me some…strange casserole? Meat and noodles, at least. It's so _good_.

"So…why don't you tell me what triggered your attack and we can go from there?" she asks gently.

I sigh and drop my fork, running my fingers through my hair as I swallow a bite of the food I was chewing before she asked. "Reyes and Scott like each other," I inform her.

She hums, "and you are…afraid to be left alone?"

I blink and jerk my head up, "what? No! God no. Reyes is my _boss_ , whether he gets a boyfriend or girlfriend is irrelevant to our relationship." I laugh a little at that, then sober up and explain, "Reyes has to be shady to survive. He's an ultimately good man with good intentions…that has to do bad things to be good. He's the definition of grey morality."

Lexi nods.

"But Scott is…sweet. Nice. _Innocent_ , Naive. I don't know any other words for it. I'm afraid…I'm afraid we won't be on the same side anymore one day, it just hit me," I say.

"You're afraid Scott will think you're doing something wrong and come after you?" she asks.

Putting it in clear terms like that… "yeah. Or I guess that…Tann will make him. That he won't be able to say no, even if he doesn't want to. And where will that leave them? If they end up dating or just being really good friends- and they end up on opposite sides, not because they actually want to be…?"

"I suppose the thought that two of your friends might have to fight each other because of bureaucracy might frighten and confuse anyone enough to have a panic attack if it just hit you all at once," she says. "But are you certain you haven't been overtaxed lately? At all?"

"Reyes makes sure I take care of myself, even if I forget," I say. "So no, I'm fine. I just…sometimes things just occur to me at the worst times and I don't know how to handle the sudden influx of images and emotions…I'm getting better at that, but it's hard."

"Getting…better…do you have some sort of…disorder, then?" she asks.

I nod, "anxiety, depression, paranoia issues- I mostly just fit in on Kadara," I attempt to joke.

She sighs, "I can prescribe you something, but you won't have access to the meds. So there's nothing I can do for that- and as you are not either suicidal or catatonic, as far as I can see and have observed…you are handling it fine on your own, yes? I'd imagine Reyes is a good support structure to lean on, from time to time."

"God no," I reply, wrinkling my nose. "He's my boss, I'm not gonna bother him with the _feels_."

"You can't simply do this on your own, Skylar," she has such concern on her face that I feel almost guilty. Point to you, Dr. T'Perro.

"I've been on my own since I was born," I reply. "What support I had was never enough, I always had to manage this alone. Reyes does what he can to help me and I do the rest. He just doesn't need to know what's wrong with me."

"There's nothing _wrong_ -" her brow scrunches up.

I cut her off, "you know what I _mean._ He doesn't need to know about my neurodivergence any more than I've already told him."

She sighs, "well. I can't force you to tell him and I can't tell him. Doctor-patient Confidentiality…but I still think he should know."

"He'll figure out the breadth and depth of my issues eventually, Doc."

And that will be the day Reyes probably leaves me behind. Or tries to, anyway.


	15. Scott POV

"I don't know what to do," Reyes looks tired.

I shrug, "just…be there? For her, I mean. There's not really much you can do for people who are sad except let them know it's okay to be, and that you're there."

His lips curl at one edge and he glances at me, "on Kadara?"

Right. Murderville. "Maybe get her a helmet?"

He chuckles and crosses his arms as he leans back against one of the walls of the ship. God he's gorgeous, especially when he dresses up like this. "You know I brought her to cheer her up?"

"Yeah I don't know what I said, but I'm sorry about that," I say with a grimace.

"No, it's my fault," he says with a detached air. "I keep trying to…maybe it's just not meant to be."

"What isn't?" I ask.

He looks at me for a long few seconds and then smirks at me, "I don't have to worry about you betraying my secrets, do I, Scott?"

I blink and stand up straighter, "never."

He chuckles again and looks down, one of his feet tapping absent-mindedly. "I've been trying to…woo, Skylar. It hasn't been going well." The embarrassment in his expression is just. Endearing as hell.

"Wh…I thought you guys were already a thing?" I ask with some confusion.

Reyes rolls his eyes, "therein lies the problem. The only difference between our friendship and a relationship is…the fact that you call it a relationship. Oh, and sex." He lifts a fingertip as if to mark that point. "If we had sex and called each other 'lover' that would be the only distinction between our friendship and being…together."

"And that's…a problem?" I'm so confused.

He grins and those dazzling amber eyes glimmer at me in amusement, "how do you get someone to notice you want more from them without seeming creepy when all the things you _could_ do, you've already done well before you wanted anything more?"

"That…yeah, that sounds like a nightmare," I acknowledge. "Why not just ask her?"

"Because I fear outright rejection, like anyone would," he replies. Surprisingly.

"You're…a surprisingly honest guy, Reyes," I say.

He looks a little down then, "I'm always honest. In my own way."

"Isn't that dangerous in your line of work, though?" I ask.

He laughs and the sound- god, I have it bad for this guy. "Not if you know how to deflect and twist words enough that no one realizes what you're _actually_ saying."

I nod, "well. What have you tried?"

He gives me a questioning look.

"With Skylar?" I elaborate.

He hums, "I bought her coffee and tea flavoring powders in bulk so she wouldn't have to worry about running out or buying any more."

God, super thoughtful.

"And then she burst into tears because apparently no one had just given her something for no reason before and she didn't know how to handle it," he says. "And then I brought her here and she started crying for no reason."

Wow. "It sounds to me like maybe she's just…neglected? Like. Maybe you should just expect her to cry sometimes? I mean, she seems kind of reclusive. Maybe she just realized she actually has more friends than you and that…surprised her?"

A thoughtful expression crosses his face, "so…crying is…good?" His brow is furrowing and that little flip of black hair that he's allowed to curl over his forehead is really distracting.

"Well maybe not good, but not bad. I mean. There's a difference between anguish and just being…overwhelmed." I remember waking up and finding out about dad. I remember being told that mom was gone. Those were distressed, anguished tears. What Skylar was doing just seemed kind of…like water bursting from a valve that was held too tight. "Comfort her, but if it's just her letting out some pressure…doing things usually helps."

He gives me a considering look and I realize I let on that I'm speaking from experience. My face burns as I rub the back of my neck and crack the joint, trying to look nonchalant.

He hums, "alright, for that. But…how do I get her to realize I want more than this from her?" He says with…such sad eyes, like…vulnerable and open. And then they're shuttered again, "how do I find out if she wants me back?"

I snort a laugh and it's pretty loud and I end up slapping my hand over my mouth.

He throws me a deadpan look, "I believe Skylar is just a naturally loyal, and as you said 'reclusive' person. This may just be normal for her."

I think about that for a minute, "well…I mean have you tried touching her?" That came out wrong. I babble, "I mean like- have you taken note of how she reacts when you touch her? I mean! Normal touching not-"

He throws his head back and laughs, "Scott. Do you really think I would have even began this if I knew for certain Skylar wanted me that way?" he shakes his head, still chuckling. "Skylar is affectionate in private but she doesn't…quite react the way women have in the past. To my… 'touching'." He says the last word with a smirk.

"Well how…exactly does she react?" I ask.

"If I may interject," SAM's voice comes out of my comm implant and echoes in the quiet area of the Crew Quarters. "Miss Skylar _does_ show signs of attraction to Reyes, but it is a subtle hormonal signal. There is unlikely any way to pick up on it verbally or physically. Her pupils do not even seem to dilate."

There's a moment of silence and Reyes coughs into his fist, looking embarrassed again, "that…feels like cheating, SAM. And if she only gives small cues, how do you know that actually means anything and that it isn't…for someone else on the Tempest." Reyes looks at me fully then, something sparking in his eyes.

It makes me shiver, and not in the good way.

"I believe Skylar wouldn't mind," the AI answers. "And she does not show these signals to anyone else. The reason it is so subtle is that she is _always_ showing signs of attraction in your presence, no matter where you are in the room in relation to her, so there is no comparison to be made one moment to the next. But when you left the room, her vitals fell into what I assume are her normal ranges. She was nervous and anxious but her hormones didn't spike again until you walked into the Med-bay."

He looks so relieved. "Thank you, SAM. But that still begs the question…what do I do to show her I want her back?"

"Romance her," I say with a gesture of my hands. "I mean…come on, like. Actual romance?"

He squints at me, "what could I do that is small and innocuous enough not to freak her out if she isn't ready?"

I open my mouth, then close it. "Uh…hum. I'll have to think about that."

Reyes walks up to me and around me to get to the door, but stops next to me and turns his head to look at me. "You're very helpful. And very cute, Scott. But…"

"Skylar," I say with a smile. I understand. "No chance of polyamory here, you think?" It's mostly a joke, but…I mean. I would. Absolutely. Skylar and Reyes? I'd probably do anything.

But the expression on his face as it cycles through emotions, tells me he's not ready for that, whether he ever will be, or not. "I don't think so. At least…not on my end." His eyes narrow and he glares at my shoulder a little. "Do you think that might be something she wants? At all, with anyone?"

Remembering the way she seems to gravitate around Reyes… "probably not. I mean, if you were cool with it and brought it up, maybe?" I shrug and run my fingers through my hair. "But if you don't bring it up, I think it just wouldn't occur to her that other men besides you _exist_ and are desirable."

His laugh is kind of a bark then and he rubs his face with his hands, "I'm a horrible person."

I'm just about to say something, maybe to comfort him- when the Crew Quarters doors open and Skylar is standing there in the opening.

She only has eyes for Reyes, though she throws a glance and a smile my way, her body language is…just…attuned. To him. "Hey Rey…I'm fine." She gestures to herself. "We can just…go back and watch what's left of the movie?"

"We're watching a couple," I say and smile. "So there's plenty left."

"Or we could just…go," Reyes tries with a mild smile. "I'd be as entertained back at the apartment, doing work with you."

Which is sweet, but kind of…god, that sounds boring.

"Or we could all hang out in the Nomad," I offer.

Skylar and Reyes both look at me with confusion.

I cough, "get a couple beers. Talk, have fun. Without the…big group of people around." I glance at Reyes pointedly and then away. "I've already seen the other movies we're watching and we can always come back to do this again."

Skylar looks like she's seriously considering it, it's tempting, I can tell.

"I think that's a great idea," Reyes throws his support my direction and smirks at Skylar. "Having the both of you all to myself. Fun."

Skylar laughs as I flush, "god Rey, quit teasing him. He's fragile and adorable."

"Hey, I'll allow 'Fragile', but 'Adorable'?" I ask with my hands spread. "I'm at _least_ hot, if not sexy."

She snorts, "to Jaal, maybe."

I open and close my mouth. "I…Jaal?"

"Yes, he did seem interested, didn't he? SAM?" Reyes asks with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

I try to tell SAM not to tell me, but he's already talking by the time I open my mouth. "I concur, Reyes."

"Huh…" well that's….kind of…really interesting?


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read My Author's Note.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I want to ask you guys a very important question:
> 
> What do you REALLY want from a fantastic romance? If you were to romance a magical creature-- be it an elf, a fae, the creature from the black lagoon or even one of the many nonhumans in the Bioware games-- what is it about them that draws you in?
> 
> Is it that some of these monsters are gentle and sweet? Is it the danger of it? Is it that you want to be a hurricane of a woman who's the only one who can not only keep up with but also cow a magical man?
> 
> And is it just sex that you think of when you see it in your minds' eye? Or is it sensuality, connection, commitment of a spiritual kind rather than of wedded bliss? Or is it wedded bliss you see there indeed?
> 
> I'm writing an actual book now, so if you guys want to weigh in on this, give me your wildest fantasies. Comment with them, message me anonymously on Tumblr, send me a message over ff.net...just tell me.
> 
> What are your innermost desires and dreams? What do you WANT?
> 
> Don't hesitate, don't second-guess yourself, I won't think less of you even if your fantasy confuses you or makes you ashamed of yourself for having it. A fantasy is meant to soothe some need you have, every single one of them. It's merely a way to cope.
> 
> Your truest, unfiltered thoughts.
> 
> If you don't want to participate, that's fine. If you'd rather completely ignore this call for information, that is perfectly acceptable.
> 
> But if there's going to be a book out there that might encapsulate all your wildest imaginings in the most perfect way you can imagine, might it be worth it?

Everything went better that night on the Tempest than I'd thought.

Reyes and Scott had settled into a friendship that felt incredibly honest and close and just… _good_ for both of them that it still kind of made me anxious about them being turned against each other…but at least Scott might hesitate to stop Reyes when he goes to kill Sloane. Maybe.

After sitting in the Nomad for hours and talking about everything and nothing, I actually felt pretty good for a few days.

Reyes had fallen into a contemplatively broody state like he does when he's planning something, so he's probably already thinking of inviting Scott to the party that's…when _is_ that happening, anyway?

Whatever was going to happen next, I felt pretty good about it.

And then Zia showed up.

"Reyes," she walks into the apartment with a languid glide and swinging hips and if I didn't hate her before, I kinda do now. With the way she glances at me as if unsurprised to find me there and unimpressed with what she sees. "I have a job for you."

That's new, and sets me on edge.

Reyes looks up from his datapad and his slow smile is as calculating as ever, so thank god for that. "Zia. What can I do for you?" And if his voice is soft as silk and his eyes are sparkling with hidden promises, I can't be mad at him.

He has horrible taste in women, but it's his taste to have. Ugh, but come on. _Zia_? Pretty, sure. But…well. I guess my hate comes from foreknowledge of betrayal so it's…probably unfair? Not sure.

"I need to ride out to the Badlands to grab something, so I need a pilot. You up for a flight?" She purrs in her vaguely french accent.

I sit up a little straighter and her head turns to pin me with her eyes, "with _out_ your bodyguard?"

I tense.

"I don't go anywhere without Skylar on jobs anymore," Reyes says with a razor sharp smile. "If you have business, we'll do business. You want something else, you'll have to make a separate appointment," his tone is so playful and sensual it makes the whole room warm and…pressurized. Is it just me?

"The less people who know where I'm going and what I'm doing, the better," she says.

"I can put you in contact with someone else," Reyes says. "Someone I know is discreet. The least I could do for an old friend, I'm sure." I hope to god he's thinking of one of his agents in the Collective.

"I was hoping for time to catch up," she pouts and puts her hand on his knee where it sits on the bed.

He quirks a brow at her, "I'm sure I could find other ways to accommodate you to your satisfaction, Zia. You don't have to seduce me."

I snort a little and look away when she throws me a hateful look. "But it's so fun, Reyes…" she says with another purr.

"Seduce the pilot then," he taps his omni-tool and hers blips with the information as it arrives. "I'm too busy lately to play."

And then he turns, pivoting his hips and planting his feet on the ground and standing tall, walking past her and signaling at me to follow.

I rush to my feet and out the door behind him. "Lock up for me, will you Zia?"

He doesn't seem worried, so maybe he trusts her? He shouldn't.

"Rey…" I started calling him that mostly because I accidentally called him that once on the Tempest and the way his face lit up made me do it again and again. "Should we be leaving her alone in your room?"

He chuckles, "Skylar, love…" he throws me a dark look over his shoulder. "Do you really think I keep anything of real importance in there?"

I purse my lips, "I don't know."

"I don't," he responds with some amusement. "If you're worried you could always march her out."

"By her hair?" I ask with some eagerness.

"You don't like Zia?" he asks with a careful tone.

"No," I respond simply. "You know that look? She's got that look."

She does, I felt it when she was looking at Reyes. She's already planning his downfall. Foreknowledge aside, she's at least _thinking_ about killing him.

"She seemed to just be making bedroom eyes at me," he says, slipping out of Tartarus with me on his heels.

Our comms are always synced to each other unless we specifically turn them off, so we didn't need to shout to be heard and it's unlikely anyone can hear us as a result. "She was hoping for that," that was obvious. "But she might've shot you afterwards."

' _Or right in the middle_.' I shiver at that thought.

"Well she'll just have to find someone else to be fatally attracted to, hm?" he made a pun. The best pun, the worst pun. "After all, I have a guardian angel now." He gives me one of those mysterious smiles. "How will she _ever_ get past you?"

"Skylar?" An outcast in the slums…that isn't right. He's a Turian in full Outcast armor and his taloned hand is on his pistol. "Sloane needs to see you."

I blink. "Huh?" My brows lift, my eyes widen and I'm pretty sure I'm the very picture of shock. "Wh…what the hell could she want _me_ for?"

"You're being investigated and she wants to interview you herself," he says.

Reyes seems to come out of his equally shocked stupor then, "investigated for what?"

"Doesn't matter. Sloane wants her, she's going to Sloane," the Turian says with a twitch of his talons on the pistol holstered at his hip.

"You can't-"

I stop him as he steps forward with his jaw set, "Rey, don't."

He breathes slowly and the mask of cold he usually wears when we're out on a job in the badlands, settles over his face. "Skylar is my responsibility, why aren't I _also_ being investigated?"

"Reyes," I hiss. "Stop it. We both know I haven't done anything to Sloane." Not directly anyway, so it's not a lie. I mean, I've rescued people _from_ her, and stolen back some stolen property. But directly hurt Sloane? Nope. "They won't find anything in whatever investigation they do. I'll be fine."

He looks down at me and his eyes shift and harden from cold anger and suspicion to something very…unfamiliar and it gives me the shivers. "Skylar, they won't give you a trial if they decide you're guilty and they don't need evidence. They'll just kill you."

"If she's innocent, she's got nothing to worry about," the Turian says.

I sigh and mutter quietly, "just keep eyes on me and let me go. You're making everyone suspicious." Quiet enough no one but Reyes on our private comm channel would've heard. "Let's go."

I release Reyes and walk toward the Turian.

Reyes catches my wrist and I look back at him. We have a few moments where we just stare at each other and we can both see the resolve in each others' eyes. And Reyes knows drawing this out will only mark us both as targets.

So he lets go…and I walk away with the Turian, at least half-certain there are Collective Agents being sent to watch me as I'm escorted to Sloane's palace.


	17. Chapter 17

I’m sitting in a bare-walled room with a single chair in the middle of it. A comfortable chair, mostly. I got escorted in and sat down on the chair without prompting as the door sealed behind me.

I waited for about an hour before her highness decided to grace me with her presence. Doing nothing but tapping my foot, playing with my hair, picking at my cuticles and wondering what Reyes is doing. Wondering if he’s going on that job without me. Out in the badlands.

Worrying about what’s happening with Zia.

I’d like Sloane if she were more like herself in the book that got published-- that prologue to Andromeda that explored the uprising?

In the game she was always portrayed as the kind of asshole she denounces in the initiative. Exiling people. Martial law. That kind of thing.

It would’ve been so much more interesting if she’d been given legitimate reasons to do everything she did-- or if she did less horrible things and more morally ambiguous things. Maybe the real Sloane is different?

I sigh as she walks in, “Sloane.”

“Skylar,” she says smoothly, prowling into the room with the force of a contained hurricane. “I see you’ve made yourself comfortable.”

“No other choice, really,” I respond with a quirked brow. “I don’t know why I’m here, this is the only seat…”

“Are you sure you don’t know?” she asks, circling my chair.

“I dunno. Did I break an Outcast’s arm for groping a dancer at Tartarus?” Totally possible. Outcasts are horrible assholes. They don’t normally come to Tartarus, though.

She makes a disgusted noise, “you think I care about that? They would deserve it and anyway I don’t interfere on behalf of my men. If they can’t fight their own battles, they aren’t worthy to be Outcast.” She stops before me and stares down into my eyes for several long moments. “You at least _suspect_ why you’re here.”

I hum and search my memory for anything besides my first job for Reyes that could have landed me here. “I…honestly I’m drawing a blank. Gimme a hint?”

She tilts her head up and looks down her nose at me a little. With the lights in here and the angle of it, she looks very menacing. Kudos to you, Sloane. “Outcasts who go into the Badlands have been cut down a lot by the Collective lately. Almost like they’ve gained a new source of firepower.”

Ah. Huh? “You think I gave them guns, or…?”

“I think you _are_ the weapon,” she says as she steps closer, slowly and with gravitas. “I think the way you can put a man down before he realizes what you’ve done could be used to wipe out entire teams.”

Well yeah, it’s possible. “Sloane, to be perfectly honest, I might have.” I shrug. “When people attack me, I fight back. I go out to the badlands to scavenge and it’s dog-eat-dog out there. I can tell you that no one I’ve fought has ever worn Outcast emblems.”

I avoid admitting to being involved with the Collective. Reyes is barely willing to admit to me that he’s more than a freelancer on their payroll.

Which is damn amusing, when you know he’s the boss.

“Of course not,” she sneers a little. “That would be like painting a target on their backs. Out in the badlands they’re in generic armors.” Then she purses her lips and stops before me, crossing her arms. “You didn’t try to deny it, so I’ll give you a choice. Execution, or Exile.”

Because she can’t let this stand, right? If I fully might have killed some of her people and don’t even deny it might be possible, she has to do something. I think it’s only the ambiguous nature of the situation which puts Exile on the table.

I shrug, “exile would be my choice. And you could always paint yourself as the benevolent leader who understands the plight of her people by doing so. Yes?” I ask, then tilt my head. “Conversely you could also vilify me, execute me in the square and paint yourself as a valiant protector. Either way, you win.”

Her mouth curls into a victorious smirk, “I win.”

“Exile is my choice then,” I shrug. “Might have a good week before I get eaten by an Eiroch or something.”

She laughs, brutal and bright. “Or maybe you’ll get cooked.”

“Suppose I could always just throw myself into one of those Sulfur ponds,” I reply.

Her chuckle is more amused than ferocious this time, “you aren’t afraid.”

“Either you kill me or you don’t,” I respond. “I can live another day. I could be killed by everything here on Kadara, the danger loses its oomph after a while.” Plus there’s Collective out in the Badlands who’d probably be thrilled to have me.

“And what about your man?” she asks, tilting her head to the side. “You aren’t sad to leave him behind?”

I cock a brow and then realize she’s talking about Reyes. “He’s not ‘my man’ and even if he were, what is there to be done, exactly?” I’ll still be able to watch his back out in the Badlands, we just…won’t be together all the time anymore.

I sigh, “he’s the best boss I ever had, but that doesn’t mean I’ll die without him.” As long as he’s alive and doing his thing, I can rest easy.

She inclines her head, “you know I thought to bring him in. But Reyes Vidal is a small fish in a big pond. You, however. Could be very big. Don’t cross me anymore than you already have, this is your only warning.” She says that last bit as she walks out the door and two of her men walk in-- Krogans, with my weapons that were confiscated when I got here.

A Turian that I know to be Kaetus walks in, between them. “I’ll escort you out of the port and you’ll be given your weapons as you exit.”

Guess this is happening. God, I hope Reyes doesn’t do something incredibly impulsive here, he’d just make it all worse.


	18. Reyes POV, Skylar POV

Keema watches me pace with her hands folded.

Calm.

Irritating.

“Exiled,” I huff, throwing my hands out to my sides in disbelief. “I knew I shouldn’t have been getting her involved with Collective operations so soon.”

“Everything is clear in hindsight, Reyes,” she tries to soothe me.

I don’t want to be soothed, “have our people found her, yet?”

“They’re still tracking her. You know how she is about slipping people tailing her,” Keema reminds me.

They’ve never worked together, but Keema is good at staying ‘in the loop’ on everything.

“I’m oddly proud of her,” and terrified. There are Eirochs and sulfur pits and scavvers out there.

I wouldn’t worry about her, normally. But she’s…not with me. She’s always with me.

“As you should be, if you were considering her to take over your title,” Keema says with a funny little curve to her mouth. “And as you’ve been attempting to make her notice you wish to join with her, I assumed there must be more to her than met the eye. I watched some footage that you keep on your personal terminal.”

I never keep anything on there that I wouldn’t want Keema or one of my lieutenants seeing, so why do I feel like I’m burning up? “And what did you see,” I state it, more than ask it.

“Loyalty, dedication and skill,” she says flippantly. “Her entire world revolves around you, I can’t imagine how lost she must feel right now.”

“Skylar isn’t lost, she knows I come into the Badlands, she has to know I wouldn’t just leave her out there alone,” I cross my arms and shift from foot to foot. “She’ll be losing her tails, finding someplace safe to hole up in…maybe leaving signs for me so I’ll know where she is?”

“You’ll have to wait to go out personally if you want to find her yourself,” Keema reminds me. “For now we’re laying low and cutting ties.”

My flinch is only on the inside, I think, but Keema is very observant.

“She will understand, Reyes.”

* * *

 

Skylar POV

The Collective keeps following me, but I guess I should’ve expected that.

I took a circuitous route around a canyon and take the Salarian hostage as he passes by a dark crevice.

My hand covers his mouth and my arm wraps around his waist and I mutter, “just relax, not gonna hurt ya, guy. Just wanna know what’s goin’ on…”

He still struggles, because of course he does, and I end up shoving him face-first into a rock wall, “relax.”

He sighs and dust gets blown everywhere and we both end up coughing a little bit.

I shake my head and slowly release my grip around his waist that was keeping his arms pinned to his sides. “I’m gonna release you now, and we’re going to have a chat.”

I slip backwards and take the pistol in his hand with me when I go, pointing it at him as he turns around.

He stares at the gun and then at me, “there are ways of disarming people with guns,” he informs me, dryly.

“I’m not within reaching distance, so you’d be takin’ a hell of a risk,” I respond jauntily. “I just wanna know what the Charlatan wants,” I say sweetly. “And why you’re following me to get it instead of just, I dunno, looking up my info and messaging me?”

“The Collective works freelance as well as for the Charlatan,” he says and crosses his arms. “We were hired by someone to find you, make sure you’re alive and well and see you off to some settlement or base-- or something.”

I blink. “What, you’re an escort? I don’t need an escort,” I say with some puzzlement.

Reyes knows how dangerous I am, even without weapons-- and since I’ve been practicing with guns, he knows how dangerous I am with them, too. Unless Reyes isn’t the one who sent them, but that makes no sense. Who else in Kadara gives a shit about me?

Even Nevva and I aren’t that close and I’d say she’s my next closest acquaintance after Reyes, besides Scott.

“I don’t know the specifics of your character, okay? Obviously you’re quite competent,” he drawls. “But we’ve been paid to find you, and we’ll be paid more if we can get you somewhere safe. So what’s it gonna be-”

There’s gunfire and an explosion and we both snap toward the opening in the wall.

I grab his arm and yank him further back in the crevice with me, “there’s another way out of here, it comes out on the other side-”

“I have to back up-”

“We can come around the other way-”

And then the light in the crevice is blocked by something and I yank him down with me as the form in the entrance opens fire with an assault rifle.

We have to claw our way behind a boulder and the Salarian’s been winged, so I have to half-drag the guy over with me.

“What the hell!” I shout and pluck a grenade off the Salarian’s belt.

“No, you could cause a-” he protests as I activate the grenade and swing out of cover to toss it at our attacker. It’s a sticky grenade.

The guy runs out of the crevice screaming before the grenade can explode, which gives us an opening.

I grab his arm, the uninjured one, and yank him behind me toward the other end of the crevice as the explosion goes off outside the tiny cave/crack-- and we’re out! “We need to get out of here, whoever is out there probably already either killed or subdued the others with you--” I gesture around the area. “There’s a whole bunch of spots for snipers to be hiding, so we’re gonna have to dart from cover to cover. You don’t have a helmet?”

He shakes his head and grips his injured arm. “We can’t just leave, they might be…”

I can see him calculating the chances and coming up with bad odds, “I…okay. We need…to get somewhere we can hole up and then I can contact someone for back-up.”

There’s a muffled shout and shots going off in the crevice behind us, so I grab the guy and start running. “By the way, what’s your name?” I shout as we go.

“My codename is Jacker!” he responds.

And I stop us behind a boulder to look at him and tilt my head, “as in…hi-jacker?” I ask with a quirked brow.

He frowns and grips his wound tighter, “so?”

“Not judging, thinking,” I respond. “So you fly.”

“I fly, drive, whatever,” he says with furrowed brow ridges.

“That’s good,” I grin.


	19. Reyes POV, Ryder POV

The team I’d sent to protect Skylar was attacked-- and apparently she took one of my agents hostage. Saving his life, and escaping from the scene after disabling the autopilot of a shuttle the enemy was using, then stealing it.

“I can’t even begin to tell you how much she reminds me of you,” Keema purses her lips as she regards me over the secure line. “Not only did she manage to get away, she managed to take someone with her, as well. She even stole the transport of the people trying to kill her!” Keema barks a laugh, elegant but loud. “And managed to convince one of our own to help her escape. He was sent to help her, of course-- but after everything went sideways he likely should’ve been a _bit_ skeptical about trusting her. Or at least following her.”

“His report states that she took him hostage and switched immediately to helpful protector as soon as the attack started. That isn’t normal,” I reply. “She’s always been so trusting of the Collective, but I’ve never actually told her that we were working for them. Beyond freelancing, I mean. And we took jobs from the Outcasts, too.” Only the ones that would benefit the Collective too, but she didn’t know that.

“You think she knows something?” Keema asks.

“I don’t know how she could,” I respond with a frown. “But perhaps she’s just…taking a side?”

That would simplify a lot of things.

“Regardless, she is at a Collective base and as such, free and clear for the moment,” she says. “Now, as for that party we were discussing-”

A notification pops up on my terminal. Emergency broadcast. “Have to take this, Keema.”

“Send me an answer, this could be a good way to sweep the premises and get intel,” she replies and clicks off the comm.

Her face is replaced with the Collective pilot I sent Zia to. My gut clenches in expectation-- I knew I should have listened to Skylar and just begged off dealing with Zia completely.

I didn’t see how it could go wrong.

But judging from the stink eye I’m receiving from the Turian who seems to be nursing a hangover…it most certainly has.

“What did she do?” I ask, dreading the answer.

And of course the answer I get convinces me further that in the future I should indeed listen to Skylar.

“She stole the shuttle and the cargo, Vidal. What the fuck?”

* * *

 

Ryder POV

“Reyes?” I quirk a brow at the smuggler over the comm in the conference room and wonder what he could be calling for.

“I need a favor…” Reyes says. “…help. I need help.”

He seems fried. “What’s going on?”

“Beyond the fact that Skylar just got exiled, and one of my shuttles and cargo was stolen-”

“Skylar got _exiled_!?” I shout. “What happened, Reyes?” Skylar was _already_ an exile, so this means…

“I don’t know!” he snaps back and starts pacing in the viewport. His form flickering as the hologram tries to keep up with his movements, “Sloane was tipped off by someone that Skylar was involved with the Collective-- but we work freelance! We work for everyone. It smacks of something but I’m not certain what. And she’s safe. I’ve…got it in hand.” He sighs. “I need help in the Badlands and I don’t want Skylar involved. She warned me that this was a bad idea and I have no need for her to get herself hurt trying to fix my mistake.”

Sighing and slouching on the conference table, I grin weakly, “so I’ll bring Jaal with me?”

“And maybe a biotic, if you have one to spare,” Reyes says. And then leans on something in the viewport. “After this is done…Scott, we need to talk about something and…it’s important.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I tap my omni-tool. “SAM?”

“ _We will be able to arrive on Kadara in two days, if we change our trajectory now_ ,” his voice informs me.

“Let Kallo know we’re going there now,” I say.

“ _I already have, Pathfinder_ ,” SAM replies.

“You’re the best, SAM,” I tell him with a more genuine smile.

“ _Thank you, Pathfinder_ ,” the AI replies, sounding touched and amused at the same time.

He’s getting better at that emoting thing.

“ETA?” Reyes asks tiredly.

Oh shit, I forget that people can’t hear SAM inside my head sometimes. “Two days,” I reply. “Too long?”

“No, it’s perfect,” he smiles a little…frayed around the edges.

“Are you okay?” I haven’t known Reyes that long, but I didn’t think he got this frazzled…or at least he doesn't get this frazzled  _often_.

“No, I’m not,” he replies, surprisingly. “Skylar was the extra pair of eyes and ears that watched my surroundings for me. I trusted her. She was…and now she isn’t here and I’m beginning to realize how unprotected my back is at all times.”

“I’ll be there to watch your back in two days. Till then…you have other friends, right?” It was the wrong question to ask, I think.

From the way his expression hardens and he looks away from me. “No, Scott. The only friends I have are too busy and…you and Skylar are the only ones…who would ever know that I was feeling that vulnerable.”

Well that…makes me feel incredibly special and kind of wistful for what could have been.

“I’ll be there, and we’ll find some way to get Skylar back in.”

Reyes hums, “that is the important thing we needed to discuss. When you get here.” And then softly, “thank you, Scott.


	20. Scott POV

"Maybe we just got here too late?" Reyes is staring down into the empty container with a really intense look on his face. I think he really needed a win after what happened with Skylar and…well. I mean, I'd probably hunt across Kadara if it would make him feel better, but-

"Or there was never any cargo, to begin with," he stands up straight and his eyes sweep the warehouse.

"Bravo." A voice echoes from deeper inside the warehouse. "I knew you'd figure it out, eventually." A heavy…french? Accent.

"Zia," Reyes apparently recognizes the voice. "What is all this?"

"I knew you could never resist a big payout," the voice mocks from the shadows.

My hand twitches. I really wanna have a gun in my hand right now.

"What can I say, I'm a greedy man," Reyes says and steps forward a little, cocking his head, as his eyes sweep the place again.

"That's why you don't have any friends. You're  _selfish_ ," the voice says.

"What am I, chopped liver?" I scoff. I mean, sure. He's kind of slippery and shady and...yeah, he's probably selfish too. I haven't known him that long...but someone like Skylar wouldn't be so devoted to him if he wasn't also worth it. Right?

"I don't think she knows about us," Jaal says from behind me, with his rifle already out- can I just draw my rifle? I feel like drawing means the fight starts, am I ready for that yet?

"I don't exactly  _like_  Reyes," Cora says. "Don't particularly  _dislike_ him, either, though."

"See? He's got friends. Sorta," the last part was supposed to be funny but I kind of choke on it when I see how Reyes is looking at us.

I've never seen such raw emotion in his eyes before, it's…wow. I don't even know what to call the look he's giving us right now.

"Well he won't have them for long," the voice says. "He's been taking all the good jobs in Kadara, and we're sick of it."

"What?" Reyes shifts on his feet, "there's…it's not just you, so. No, it's not possible. You couldn't have convinced all the other smugglers to work against me."

"Believe whatever you want, Reyes, but your charm isn't as inescapable as you think." Ooh now that one burned a little, I think.

"You orchestrated all of this," Reyes says slowly as his eyes tick back and forth, like he's analyzing data on a screen. Then his eyes stop moving and the look in them flattens. "Did you get Skylar exiled?"

The laughter in response to that question is enough of an answer but she does confirm it. "It was so easy. Sloane was so antsy to do something about the little crusader as soon as she started paying other people's fines and started defending people from the beatings."

"What?" I blink and glance aside at Reyes. "I didn't know she did that."

Judging by the frown on his face, neither did Reyes.

It  _is_  in character though, so I have no trouble believing it. Skylar might be prickly, but she's got a gooey center.

"Ghkk!" that didn't sound good.

"Zia?" Reyes calls out.

"Nah, she's dead," a familiar voice calls out. "Her reinforcements are coming, though."

"Skylar!?" I can't believe this! "What the hell-"

She steps into the light just long enough to put a finger over her lips and grin at us. "They don't know I'm here…" before slipping back into the shadows.

"Feeling a lot better about these odds," Cora says as she draws her weapon.

Which prompts me to draw mine, finally. It's an assault rifle. Something Drack modified the shit out of for me. Vetra got me the mods...I love my squad.

Reyes slips behind some shipping containers. "We are going to talk when this is over, Skylar!" He sounds both relieved and really irritated.

"I told you she had that look!" is the last response we hear before the doors at the far end of the warehouse are broken down and a whole squad streams through the opening.

Using biotics, Cora and I control the field.

It's just a matter of tossing out singularities and throwing up barriers at odd intervals while shooting absolutely anything that moves-- at first.

We don't worry about hitting Skylar because- well. If Skylar doesn't want to be seen, she won't be. Meaning we won't be able to see her to hit her. So long as we only aim at what we can see, she's fine. Since there's a whole large group of people to shoot at-- and the people on the outsides are probably the ones she's going after...we just have to aim for the center.

Reyes slowly maneuvers around the warehouse, taking potshots with his rifle and never staying any one place too long.

Jaal sets up in a spot on top of a shipping crate, behind some other crates and stays there- taking out stragglers at the back and somehow escaping notice.

I'm gonna have to ask him about that later…

Ducking down behind the measly cover I managed to find closer to the people shooting at us- I consider my options.

Throw a grenade? No, I might catch Skylar in the crossfire of one of those.

Biotics, same problem. Using them out in the open in the big clusters is one thing- but now that there's just fringes left, I risk yanking her out into the open and making her vulnerable to attack.

Biotic barrier and sword? Maybe, in short runs. I'd need everyone else to cover me. And a place to run afterwards.

Taking a deep breath, I tap the comms, "cover me when I charge."

"On your mark," Cora confirms.

"Be careful, Scott," Jaal kind of melts my spine with his soft voice.

"Got you," Reyes sounds really intense.

I inhale deep and sigh. "Now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I jumped forward a bit, but I honestly just felt the story continued here.

**Author's Note:**

> Jaalmance is up too, now!
> 
> Remember to comment or leave kudos if you like the story! I love comments, even if you just wanna say 'kudos'!
> 
> RikaDivani.tumblr.com if you wanna check out my Tumblr.


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